By qsolis 07/feb/2023
La Cartita
On february 6th at a depth of 10 km (6 miles), an 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck about 50 km (30 miles) from the town of Sivrice in Elazig province, which was felt across Turkey, Syria, Iraq, Cyprus, Jordan, Lebanon, and Israel, killing more than 3,700 people and injuring more than 13,000 in Türkiye. The death toll in Syria is 1,444 with an additional 3,500 injured. The UN reported that 4.1 million people in the area depend on cross-border humanitarian aid.
The U.S. Geological Survey reported the quake as the biggest recorded worldwide since August 2021. Freezing winter weather and poor internet connections have been complicating search and rescue operations, as temperatures are expected to fall near freezing overnight, worsening conditions for people trapped under rubble or homeless.
Operations at Turkey’s oil export hub in Ceyhan were halted and crude flows from Iraq and Azerbaijan were stopped due to the earthquake.
Tayyip Erdogan, the President of Turkey, declared the quake to be a historic disaster and the most severe earthquake the country had experienced since 1939, prompting 45 countries to offer their assistance in the search and rescue efforts.
The U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has offered to provide any assistance needed.