The death toll from the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria has risen above 50,000. Two and a half weeks after the February 6 earthquakes, 44,218 have died in Turkey, according to emergency service AFAD. The last reported number of deaths in Syria is more than 5,900. The death toll is expected to rise.
Last Monday evening, the same area was again hit by a powerful 6.4 quake with a 5.8 aftershock. According to authorities on the Turkish side, six people were killed and nearly 300 injured and in Syria five people were killed and more than 500 injured.
Relief organizations emphasized the importance of psychological help to survivors after this new quake. “Many people had a re-experience, or jumped from balconies or windows out of panic,” Jasper Kuipers, director of Dokters van de Wereld, told NOS this week.
The organization has psychologists in the affected area who provide “psychological first aid”, which mainly consists of conducting conversations about experiences. “To prevent traumas from accumulating,” says Kuipers.
Meals and water bottles
Emergency aid is also being provided to survivors in the earthquake zone. The Red Cross has distributed more than 20 million hot meals and 15 million water bottles in ten affected Turkish provinces. Save the Children has provided 7,500 people in Syria with ready-to-eat hot meals and also provided meals to search and rescue teams. Oxfam Novib has meanwhile started repairing the water network in Aleppo.
The amount of the Giro555 fundraising campaign was more than 108 million euros last Wednesday. That is more than 20 million more than the position of 88.90 million at the end of the action day a week earlier.
- Giro555 action raises more than 108 million euros for Turkey and Syria
- Another earthquake in Turkey and Syria: ‘You heard everyone screaming’
- ‘New earthquake emphasizes the importance of psychological help’
