On Feb. 6, an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.8 on the Richter scale hit Turkey and parts of Syria, killing at least 11,000 people. Tens of thousands more were injured after tremors reaching a 7.5 magnitude shocked towns after the initial earthquake. 

The damage caused by this earthquake is extensive and has brought heartache to people as they have lost homes, pets, and family members in this natural disaster. 

“It will take months to stabilize the region and years to recover from the disaster,” Dale Buckner, CEO of McLean (a Virginia-based Global Guardian and his team who work to help out places in need of recovery after a natural disaster).

To help ease the pain of all the homes lost in the earthquake, the president of Turkey, Tayyip Erdoğan, made a vow that all the houses destroyed in the 10 most affected provinces will be rebuilt in a year and said that his government “will not leave any of our citizens uncared for.”

Since all of the bodies have been recovered, and there is not enough space in the morgues and hospitals, they’re laid out side-by-side in neighborhoods and covered with blankets.

The earthquake was felt as far as Qamishli and Raqqa in eastern Syria. 1,450 people have been reported dead and more are expected to come. 

When this catastrophic natural disaster hit the news, countries around the world rushed to aid Syria and Turkey. President Joe Biden sent search and rescue teams over to Turkey and requested that all U.S. partners do so as well. There are reports of Israel sending teams over to help, but Israel has yet to confirm. Greece was the first to rush to Turkey’s aid. 

Getting to Turkey and Syria has been a problem for these search and rescue teams, with the struggle being caused by all of the fallen buildings. In order to get to places needing the most assistance, the workers have to abandon their cars and walk to the people in need.

This earthquake has damaged the humanitarian crisis in Syria, which has caused many citizens to struggle with food, security, and safety. Although the violence there has lessened, the humanitarian situation continues to worsen as the economy continues to spiral downward. Experts say that rebuilding of the town could take more than a year, but the pain the families feel will take much longer to heal.