Today, 6 February, Turkey remembers with grief and tears for the victims the first anniversary of the 7.7 and 7.6 earthquakes that left more than 50,000 people dead a year ago, after devastating the entire southeastern region of Anatolia. With its epicentre in Pazarcık (Kahramanmaraş province), the catastrophe was described as “the disaster of the century” and affected 14 million people, killing 53,537 and injuring 107,213; given the magnitude of the tragedy, the Turkish government declared a level 4 alert and requested international assistance, announcing 7 days of national mourning.
The first of the earthquakes struck at 4:17 a.m., while the second occurred only 9 hours later, toppling many of the already damaged buildings. Both earthquakes affected a total of 11 provinces, covering a total area of some 120,000 square kilometres. At least 66 aftershocks were recorded and could be felt as far away as Cyprus and Egypt. A total of 93 countries were involved in search and rescue efforts in the region, sending not only personnel, but also some 300,000 tents and more than 12,000 container houses, as more than 160,000 buildings were destroyed or severely damaged.
In total, some 650,000 rescue and emergency personnel – 11,488 of them from other countries – were involved in the relief efforts following the devastating earthquakes, whose damage was equivalent to approximately 10% of Turkey’s GDP and which in cities such as Antakya (the former Antioch) destroyed more than 80% of the buildings. Turkish government sent €3.25 billion in emergency aid to the region; as part of the reconstruction effort, the rebuilding of more than 300,000 houses in the earthquake-affected area is already underway.
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Edited and reviewed by:
Pablo Gómez is a specialist in Turkey and has been editor-in-chief of Hispanatolia since 2011. He has been analysing current affairs and geopolitics in Turkey and the surrounding region since 2006.
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