Mere weeks after experiencing devastating loss, the remaining residents of Hatay in Turkey are struck again by a second set of earthquakes. The earthquakes with magnitudes 6.4 and 5.8 claimed the lives of six people and injured 300 people, raising the death toll to 47 000 deaths in the last two weeks.
The country has not recovered from the previous disaster, with thousands of people still going hungry and having no shelter, due to food shortages and the destruction of thousands of homes and buildings. Record-breaking 1 million residents were left homeless between the two sets in Turkey alone. 226 000 pregnant women in Turkey are homeless and in need of immediate health care, according to the UN sexual and reproductive health agency (UNFPA).
6000 Aftershocks have been recorded since the earthquakes of February 6, creating even more havoc in many surrounding cities and towns. The Major of Hatay, Lutfu Savas shared his concerns in an Interview with the Guardian, he said,” Some buildings were destroyed, and there are some who are trapped under the rubble.”
The US Secretary of state, Anthony Blinken, met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, to reconcile and offer the US commitment to providing aid. The US has committed to providing another 100 Million $ in relief aid.
Turkey has large cities, Antakya and Hatay built in what scientists call fault zones. These zones are where large tectonic plates meet and move past each other. When natural stress occurs on these plates, their movements become erratic and send shock waves through the earth's crust causing earthquakes. Turkey is situated atop the Anatolian tectonic plate which means Turkey might not have seen their last major earthquake.
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