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LAST UPDATE | 7 Feb 2023
THE DEATH TOLL from a massive earthquake that struck Turkey and Syria has risen above 7,300, official data shows, with rescue workers still searching for trapped survivors.
The latest toll showed 5,434 people killed in Turkey and at least 1,872 in Syria, for a combined total of 7,306 fatalities.
Turkey’s vice president Fuat Oktay earlier said more than 8,000 people have been pulled from the debris in Turkey alone, and some 380,000 have taken refuge in government shelters or hotels.
The Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, said 13 million of the country’s 85 million were affected in some way — and declared a state of emergency in 10 provinces in order to manage the response.
For the entire quake-hit area, that number could be as high as 23 million people, according to Adelheid Marschang, a senior emergencies officer with the World Health Organisation.
Erdogan said a series of emergency measures would be taken to flood the affected areas with humanitarian relief workers and financial aid.
“We have decided to declare a state of emergency to ensure that our (rescue and recovery) work can be carried out quickly,” Erdogan said in televised remarks.
“We will quickly complete the presidential and parliamentary processes related to this decision, which will cover our 10 provinces where the earthquake has been experienced and will last for three months.”
Her has also declared seven days of national mourning.
Erdogan’s government is coming under growing pressure on social media for what his critics view as a slow response to Turkey’s biggest earthquake in nearly a century.
The earthquake struck early yesterday, bringing down thousands of buildings. Rescuers are racing frantically to find more survivors but their efforts are being impeded by temperatures below freezing and some 200 aftershocks, which made the search through unstable structures perilous.
Nurgul Atay told the Associated Press she could hear her mother’s voice beneath the rubble of a collapsed building in the city of Antakya, the capital of Hatay province, but that her and others efforts to get into the ruins had been futile without any rescue crews and heavy equipment to help.
“If only we could lift the concrete slab we’d be able to reach her,” she said. “My mother is 70 years old, she won’t be able to withstand this for long.”
Across Hatay province, just southwest of the earthquake’s epicentre, officials say as many as 1,500 buildings were destroyed and many people reported relatives being trapped under the rubble with no aid or rescue teams arriving.
In areas where teams worked, occasional cheers broke out through the night as survivors were brought out of the rubble.
The quake, which was centred in Turkey’s south-eastern province of Kahramanmaras, sent residents of Damascus and Beirut rushing into the street and was felt as far away as Cairo.
The medical aid organisation Doctors Without Borders (MSF) confirmed today that one of its staff members was among the dead after his house in Syria’s Idlib province collapsed, and that others had lost family members.
“We are very shocked and saddened by the impact of this disaster on the thousands of people touched by it, including our colleagues and their families,” said Sebastien Gay, the group’s head of mission in Syria.
Gay said health facilities in northern Syria were overwhelmed with medical personnel working “around the clock to respond to the huge numbers of wounded”.
Dr Siobhán Power of Geological Survey Ireland (GSI) said scientists here could see evidence of the earthquakes.
Scientists in Ireland have been monitoring the primary (P) and secondary (S) waves caused by the quakes since yesterday.
Speaking on Today with Claire Byrne on RTÉ Radio 1, Power said: ”Even though it was 4,000 kilometres away, the waves moved through the earth. And we started to see the signals quite weak first – the first set of waves, the P waves – and then when the S wave came, the signal was quite obvious.”
Power explained that movement of 1mm on this scale “sounds tiny” and is “not something that we as humans walking around the earth could feel”, but “in scientific terms it is significant”.
It is further proof that we live on this dynamic earth and what happens even 4,000 kilometres away affects us – or that we see the evidence of it here in Ireland.
Power explained that more aftershocks are likely in the coming days.
“It can continue for quite a while… It doesn’t follow a pattern, it’s not that each one will be decreasing in magnitude. Stress has been building up and then it failed or the earth failed, or there was movement required and it’ll take a while for the earth to stabilise again in that area.
“So there are a lot of faults, there are lots of fractures along which this stress can be released. So it will take a while, yes, for the area to settle down, there will be quite a few [aftershocks].”
Power said, aside from building collapsing, there are several other concerns in the areas devastated by the quakes.
“Because it’s not one event, you can’t predict what’s about to happen. But also you’ll have gas mains, electricity, water, everything will have been disrupted.
“So it’ll be dangerous for that reason, as well as the falling buildings. There’s a whole variety of, a whole collection of, disasters really that will come from the first earthquake… because the area is unstable, there’ll be a lot of buildup of problems, disasters,” she said.
In Turkey’s Hatay province, thousands of people sheltered in sports centres or fair halls, while others spent the night outside, huddled in blankets around fires.
Turkey has large numbers of troops in the border region with Syria and has tasked the military to aid in the rescue efforts, including setting up tents for the homeless and a field hospital in Hatay province.
Defence Minister Hulusi Akar said a humanitarian aid brigade based in Ankara and eight military search and rescue teams had also been deployed.
A navy ship docked today at the province’s port of Iskenderun, where a hospital collapsed, to transport survivors in need of medical care to the nearby city of Mersin.
Thick, black smoke rose from another area of the port, where firefighters have not yet been able to douse a fire that broke out among shipping containers that were toppled by the earthquake.
In the Turkish city of Gaziantep, a provincial capital about 20 miles from the epicentre, people took refuge in shopping malls, stadiums, mosques and community centres.
Speaking to RTÉ’s News at One, the Turkish Ambassador to Ireland Mehmet Hakan Olcay said that “you cannot over-exaggerate the devastation that took place”.
“It’s an earthquake of such a magnitude that we have not had one in recorded history that I can remember,” he said.
Olcay added there are over 16,000 search and rescue teams working currently, with 2,665 search and rescue workers from 65 other countries helping.
“They are working around the clock but it does take time and the coordination is ongoing,” Olcay said.
“But there’s also harsh winter conditions in the region. There’s a snowstorm in some parts and also freezing temperatures. So that’s also hampering the efforts for the search and rescue operations,” he added.
Support
The sole border crossing used to shuttle life-saving aid from Turkey into conflict-ravaged Syria has been hit by the deadly earthquake that struck the two countries, the United Nations said today.
“The cross-border operation has itself been impacted,” Jens Laerke, spokesman for the UN humanitarian agency OCHA, told reporters in Geneva.
“It is a disaster zone,” he said, appealing for politics to be put aside to allow desperately-needed aid to get through.
Countries from around the world have rushed to dispatch aid, personnel and equipment to help rescue efforts in the regions.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said: “Our teams are on the ground assessing the needs and providing assistance. We count on the international community to help the thousands of families hit by this disaster, many of whom were already in dire need of humanitarian aid in areas where access is a challenge.”
The European Union has mobilised 27 search and rescue and medical teams from 19 countries to help Turkey, together over 1,150 rescuers and 70 rescue dogs, EU crisis management commissioner Janez Lenarcic confirmed today.
US President Joe Biden said that teams were “deploying quickly to begin to support Turkish search and rescue efforts”.
National security spokesman John Kirby said the United States was sending two search-and-rescue teams of 79 people each, while the Pentagon and USAID were coordinating with their Turkish counterparts.
China said the first Chinese rescue teams started work in Turkey today and that it was sending $5.9 million (about €5 million) in emergency aid to the country, including rescue and medical teams, state media reported.
Deng Boqing, vice director of the China International Development Cooperation Agency, told state broadcaster CCTV that Beijing would also coordinate “urgently needed disaster relief materials” for Syria but did not say how much would be sent.
British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said the UK was sending a team of 76 search and rescue specialists, equipment and rescue dogs. Britain was also sending an emergency medical team to assess the situation on the ground.
Russian President Vladimir Putin promised to send teams to both countries in telephone calls with Syria’s Bashar al-Assad and Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The defence ministry said 300 military personnel deployed in Syria were helping with the clear-up effort.
Ukraine has said it will send a team of 87 rescue workers to Turkey.
Tánaiste Micheál Martin yesterday announced that Ireland will send €2 million in emergency assistance to Turkey and Syria.
In a statement, the Department of Foreign Affairs said the €2 million allocation is in direct response to the emergency appeal for funding from the Government of Turkey and aid agencies working in Turkey and northwest Syria.
Several NGOs are providing emergency supplies and shelter to those impacted by the earthquakes.
Fiona Gannon, regional director with Concern Worldwide, said: “The biggest priority for people affected by these earthquakes is shelter as it’s currently below freezing (minus four degrees Celsius) in the areas hit by the earthquakes.
“These have been some of the strongest earthquakes in a 100 years and aftershocks have disrupted communications and electricity supplies, many people are too afraid to go inside, choosing to sleep in their cars instead.”
Prior to the earthquakes, there were already over four million people in need of aid in northwest Syria, more than over 85% of the local population, Christian Aid said.
The area is also home to nearly three million people who have been displaced by the long conflict in Syria, including nearly two million people who are still living in camps and already struggling with a harsh winter and facing sub-zero nighttime temperatures.
Rosamond Bennett, Christian Aid Ireland’s Chief Executive, said: “The vast majority of people in northwest Syria are already in desperate need of aid after years of conflict. Again and again the public dig deep to help people in their time of need but every penny makes a huge difference to support people rebuild their lives.”
Contains reporting from © AFP 2023, Órla Ryan and Hayley Halpin
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Let it sink !! . Use the 123m to actually address the problems in the system and not for keeping all the bigwigs in the lifestyle they are accustomed too.
@Nucky: It cost just €800,000 to put a temporary treatment plant in Roscommon to lift the boil notices, but tool 2.5 years due to the dysfunctional monstrosity known as Irish water. Imagine what we could have done with the half BILLLION spent on useless water meters?
The water meters aren’t useless and have actually resulted in leaks being identified all over the country.
Throwing good money after bad ,sure it’s the Fine Gael way good governance my buttocks.
The second hand water meters that will have to be replaced in a few years, those ones?
@(((Jason))): “The water meters aren’t useless and have actually resulted in leaks being identified all over the country.”
Take a walk around any housing estate Jason, and see the number of meters leaking themselves, instead of regurgitating the IW soundbites.
Seriously Jason. When we were told 40% of water was leaking before metering. The main leaks are in trunk pipes. Would you try to fix your main problems first?
Just back from a walk ‘jamming’ and didn’t see any leaking meters in any of the 6 or 7 estates I passed through. Stop regurgitating your own lies.
The state they left outside my mother’s house is a disgrace. Shows you what cowboys they are.
@(((Jason))): So the people posting photos for the last 2 years of leaking meters, burst mains and damaged pathways on social media have been faking the photos have they?
‘Jamming’ you said go to any estate in the country to see leaking meters, I’ve just told you I’ve passed through half a dozen and haven’t seen any, nor never had.
@For Connolly:
If we start paying for our water in apportion to how much we use then there will be more direct money for infrastructure rebuilding….harder to t have shortfalls when you charge for the service you pipe to people.
FG really really fecked this up. The principal is sound as the old system of neglect (decades of it) wont cut it.It is the over spending costs and PR that is killing this utility.
@(((Jason))): Course you did Jason, seeing as though you’re throwing around the ‘lies’ thing.
Oh, here’s a snap I just took outside my neighbours house of one of those leaking meters that aren’t happening all over the place….
Jason their sell by date is fast approaching as they were bought second….they were one of the biggest wastes of money and time by the govt in recent yrs not to mention the cause of a lot of aggravation. Time to scrap the metering program and spend the money on infrastructure
Are you saying I didn’t walk through several estates ‘jambon’? Pop Down to Wexford and I’ll show you. Rough area where you live? People don’t interfere with workers doing their job and intimidate them where I’m from. If workers were allowed to do their job, maybe such ‘leaks’ wouldn’t exist.
Your link doesn’t work, surprise surprise.
@(((Jason))): “Your link doesn’t work, surprise surprise.”
Works fine for me.
Anyone else able to click/tap on my links below and bring up a photo of a leaking water meter?
@(((Jason))): “Are you saying I didn’t walk through several estates ‘jambon’? ”
I’m saying that it’s an amazing coincidence that the only time I’ve ever recommended you walk through an estate to see leaking meters, that you just so happen to be JUST back from doing JUST that, and also JUST happened to be keeping an eye out (in the dark?) for leaking water meters.
That’s spooky, isn’t it Jason?
You’re not the lad that writes endas tales for him, are you?
Yep, it works.
Unlike Irish water
Little one will be here to help you out in a minute jambon, don’t forget to swop to the for connolly account before replying though.
And even if there is a leaking meter, it would be a statistical anomaly, how many fitted v how many leaking?
You’re great for the fake conspiracy theories, faux outrage and outright lies. Keep it up.
Jamming, I go walking every night. So no, it’s not ‘just’, plus my walk how is via many estates, so keep your conspiracy theories going… people walk down the country, exercise and that, you know? You’re truly an idiot of high proportions if you think i sit here making up stories, as you do, about going for a walk.
Even In the dark John, which it wasn’t between 6-7, we have street lights, plus if water was leaking, my shoes would be wet, wouldn’t they?
Everything you need to know about Jason in one post, boys and girls…….
“Little one will be here to help you out in a minute jambon, don’t forget to swop to the for connolly account before replying though. ”
followed two lines below with…..
“You’re great for the fake conspiracy theories…”
Cheers Jason, you’re a howl.
You haven’t even the courage to use your name. You’re a troll, a coward and a bully. Jog on now little cowardly boy.
Well I think my work here is done.
But I’m having so much fun!
One water meter was fitted to a row of 9 houses where I live in November 2015. Afterwards our water pressure dropped making our electric shower unuseable. It was the council who had to come and repair the damage in August, a 9 month ordeal which shouldn’t have happened in the first place. No faith in Irish waters customer service.
Ein, as far as I am aware anywhere meters went to try and encourage greater water conservation there was a noticeable change in the beginning and people just went back to their normal use. Usage is not the problem, poor infrastructure is. Where has all the money we already paid for water been spent? Who is account table?
@(((Jason))): Most of those leaks were created by the installation of those water meters….
So true
@jason I’ve a link for you ! Your brain and a pile of dog waste !
Personal insults, the last refuge of the illiterate and the stupid
You can show proof of the Kerry?
@(((Jason))): “Personal insults, the last refuge of the illiterate and the stupid”
Here’s you from 7 posts up…..
“You’re a troll, a coward and a bully.”
Jason you’re the gift that keeps on giving
Good lad
We need to stop funding Irish Water and divert the money saved into social housing.
Yea Jason ya tick !
That’s not insulting jamming/connolly/jambon/John Ennis- that’s facts. You should learn about what a fact is. You’re a proven troll. If you had one ounce of courage, you’d use your name. You’ve been banned from here for bullying and lying before, they’re the
facts John.
@(((Jason))): “You’ve been banned from here for bullying and lying before”
Are you referring to the ‘were jammin’ account which got blocked the same time that lots of the other regulars got blocked after making comments about the journal not posting details revealed by Catherine Murphy in the Dail about a certain person?
But, please, list the lies and bullying that got the account banned. Oh, and you’re straying into libel territory, so I’d make sure that you are correct in what you’re posting.
Is there ACTUALLY leaks ? And if so ? Who cares? One of the wettest countries in the world , water shortage me hole I’m not buying it
@(((Jason))):your obviously pressing the wrong button worked fine for me….
Works good for me, I can see leak
Jason how are you FG masters treating you? Still paying you to put their useless drivel on FB?
But but but but quango…
@Thommo’s Big Nose: Super Quango
@Frederick Higginbottom: hse style, aren’t we lucky with the calibre of cluster f//k politicians we have
Sink it
How can they be short. They have always taken it from our taxes’ and to help it along they use our car tax plus property tax that they took against our will.
So shove off and get the rest of the money from the banks.
Frankly, I’m surprised it isn’t even more than that
This is to keep the billing system supported. Since suspension of charges they were allowed to continue their worthless metering program. Coveney and Kenny have well declared their intention. FF and Michael need to step up to the plate now. Anyway 180 millio equates to 3 days support AIB were.given. Small change really
@lavbeer: Kenny and noonan have to allow ff wriggle room for the post election carve up of the spoils, all the while they pi’s our scarce money away on their vanity.
I see old ff are coming out of the wood work like its all ok? Cowen gets a huge write up explaining how he thinks he did well handling the crisis, can someone remind them they burnt the f’en house down cheered on by fg
Well consultancy fees cost €86 million and they completely failed, so the government should try and recoup this money first.
@Les Behan: pity all those consultants forgot to recommend hiring a secretary to take notes! setting up a billion euro company fg style
take a bow you pompus twit and officially Irelands biggest waster phil Hogan from tipperary
It was lucky the grant money was put aside in full somewhere, very lucky.
Didn’t IW get an extra few million a couple of weeks ago, what exactly are they spending our taxes on?
Metering, fixing leaks, improving infrastructure
Excellent. I think we all knew from the start that this utility was going to end up exactly where it is. Not working and an additional burden on the taxpayer. Yaaaay.. go Ireland
For gods sake call a spade a spade.get fooking rid of it.
123 million….. it’s gonna take a miracle.
Still not paying.
No but Deborah you’re happy to take your welfare cheque.
“It’s going to cost €123 million to keep Irish Water afloat due to water charges shortfall”
Well that fleet of Audi A6s won’t keep themselves on the road, will they?
Mind you, that headline does make a rather excellent case for closing the whole bloody quango down, no?
You’re right, no.
What argument would you put for maintaining the billing system Jason. Give me 3 simple points and debate me on if. I will be around for 2 to 3 hours
So what did they spend the money on? A simple breakdown of costs on 1. The billing system 2. Core staff and projects 3. Maintenance. This is the second biggest stich up in history of the state.
We have been paying for our water for decades via taxation. How are they short?
@William Clay: infrastructure has been mismanaged. Nobody seemed to provide for the deterioration of the system over time. It’s a joke that just under half of all water treated is lost to leaks!
Infrastructure was mismanaged on purpose JFN, to make iw look like the saviour. Of course fg make a balls of it
@William Clay: Exactly William. Defund the public model to the point of near collapse, then set up a company to later privatise and shovel any amount of our taxes into it to fatten it up for sale.
They nearly got away with it as well. And we’re only one manufactured emergency away from them still doing it.
@For Connolly:
You forgot: Hire the same people from the councils who mismanaged the infrastructure in the first place, and give them cushy new jobs in the new Private Utility.
@William Clay: LMAO, now you sound a bit crazy there. So they decided, say… back in the 70s, “hey lads, let’s leave all the pipes deteriorate and in 40 years time we’l set up a private company to manage it and cash in”
Get over yourselves people, most countries don’t invest enough for any service, either through direct or indirect taxation.
Now that there’s been a massive own goal scored by the Irish public the government have come up with a classic way of getting in revenue, by giving something away. In the budget they announced a first time buyers package, massively increased demand overnight has turned into what?……a nice revenue stream back into government coffers…..one they know for a fact will just pass by quietly with zero chance of anyone marching, protesting or showing the least bit of true solidarity with their fellow countrymen, they know the herd mentality is not that sophisticated and respectful toward each other.
The people of Roscommon were used as pawns while the council’s funds were slashed despite several calls for more money to fix the issues. No they were told, wait for iw. That Nick is the truth
@Brent Weaver: That was their reward for allowing the infrastructure to collapse. 29 billion collected for water services since 1997, Not one red cent used for purpose, or accounted for.
A bankers tax to far…
A victory for the people against the tyranny of Europe and Fine Gael.
Our Brexit moment.
Gave you a green thumb Daniel, cos I assumed you were being ironic; though not sure all the other green thumbers thought so, given the normal prevailing opinions on here!
This is what happens when vested interests prevail over the public interest.
Alan Kelly speaks in highly derogatory and insulting terms about protestors.
Meanwhile, thecIrush State victimises and oppresses the Jobstown protestors.
Alan Kelly’s involvement into this filthy corrupt quango needs to be investigated. Along with all the other cheer-leading half wits. There is something seriously wrong here. It is a corrupt failure and was collapsed due to the general public finally waking up to the endemic corruption rife in our society. Heads need to roll over this. Utter filth.
Epic. Jason and the Aquanauts.
I can’t believe someone is trying to defend the indefensible. Irish water is the white elephant of white elephants. It’s time is long over.
The real question is whatever IW faults, is it less or more efficient in the long run than being run by the 40 or so local authorities?
How could this utter failure of a corrupt, fake company which only issues bills and has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with the actual management of water since its inception, be less efficient than the councils who actually still manage our water?
Consultants, senior executives, performance pay, useless metres and over staffing cost a lot. Add an excess into expensive billing system and huge expenditure on communications, legal costs and lobbying / rewarding politicians takes up a lot of money.
It’s amazing how they can find money for this quango.
We already pay for water through our motor tax. Which makes complete sense. Just use that money.
That’s the way it should be paid for all the time.
@David Dickenson: why not pay through usage rather than general taxation? General taxpayers are getting shafted by people who don’t care about conserving water.
@JFN: fixing the major leaks would do more to conserve water then educating the tiny minority who don’t use their water sensibly.
Do both then. Especially when the meters are now there.
@JFN: Are you one of the people that actually think there are people leaving taps running all day,seriously?
So they have 123 consultants
Pre-2008 Car Owners have had enough paying for water for everybody in their annual Motor Tax since 2008.
New v Old Annual Motor Tax comparison … €440,000 used for Water Services every year!
€280 Motor Tax for Mercedes C-class 2.1L
€270 Motor Tax for BMW 318 2L
€580 Motor Tax for Pre-2008 Toyota Avensis 1.6L (value €2.5K)
@Neuville-Kepler62F:
Correct me if I’m wrong but wasn’t this always the case that local councils in the provision of water services also dipped into the exchequer including motor taxation though probably not to such a degree.
Jjjjjjjjjason – go to bed early after your long walk & get to work early doors in IW HQ like a good chap. Close your eyes for the day & enjoy the silence of not one phone ringing from a ‘customer”! Seriously though – it’s the sad Indo reading believers such as yourself that facilitate this mockery of a government to rip off the citizens of Ireland in favour of their rotten connected pals. Pathetic as you are I feel slightly sorry for you being the lone supporting voice this evening – shrieking into the void! You deserve nothing but contempt however so ((((fekkkk off))))!!! IW will be brought to a halt & the majority of us will never pay a cent more for this cack handed enterprise no matter how much of our money they waste on a billing system or rigged committee reviews.
I thought it was an April fools joke when i heard they plan to put a roof on the reservoir in Stillorgan, But it aint.
Why?
Why are they still getting funds? What part of we’re not paying do they not understand, just close up,
So. …people are still paying it then. That’s public money not being spent on other things.
Well now if they hadn’t spent millions on consultants and millions more on setting up call centres and issuing bills they might actually have the money to do the job. The government of course could actually take the money from the unjust property tax nest egg they are building up. It is definitely not being given to the Councils to maintain services. Oops I forgot it is going to pay the gambling bondholders whom the Government have been told they need never have paid. What a country!!
@Mary Dunphy: will we ever get a clear answer from fg about securing private banking debt onto citizens and their grandchildren’s backs? what a party! (remember Kenny telling Europe “paddy partied” and then backtracked when he was told we could hear him?)
@ciaran: Straight answer no. Remember he also said ‘Paddy needs to know’ and promising that Paddy would know. Well his new mantra must be ‘Paddy will only know what me and my mates choose to tell him.’
@Mary Dunphy: new mantra “paddy who?”, any aul jobs in Brussels?
he knows the game is up, the little control freak has even anointed covney to be his successor, what a hard act to follow! lol
Have one type of car tax based on emissions rather then the TWO tier unfair system. Abolish credit card tax. Then I might consider paying water charges. Otherwise were screwed.
So are they going to blame the public for this or that fact they shouldn’t have tried this in the first place?
Seems like they’re going to blame the public.
100 million Euro would give us a motorway between the Second largest city and third largest city. This is a disgrace to be putting anymore money into Irish Water.
Kill it
We could sell them voting machines…
How do you keep water afloat? Only if it’s Irish water.
If the Garda strikes proceed I suspect many water metres will disappear.
“Irish Water” should be made “the water department” and remain always a public utility. Our water should never be controlled by private companies or individuals… So the cost of “keeping it afloat” should be irrelevant.
Total fecking disaster from the government as usual
Irish water should be used to sell water to England for the river shannon this could cover all the costs
have your say