How long did the earthquake in Turkey last?

A devastating earthquake of 7.8 on the Richter scale hit Southern Turkey in the early hours of 6 February (4.17 a.m.), with epicenter in the Pazarcık district of Kahramanmaras province. The earthquake heavily affected the neighboring provinces of Adıyaman, Kilis, Osmaniye, Gaziantep, Malatya, Elazığ as well as Şanlıurfa, Adana, Diyarbakır and Hatay, where around 13.5 million people reside including around 2 million Syrian refugees.

Many aftershocks followed the earthquake and a second major earthquake hit the region after 9 hours with 7.5 magnitude causing serious further damage and destruction of damaged buildings.

On the evening of 20 February a 6.4 magnitude earthquake struck Hatay, with epicenter in Defne district. Several damaged buildings in the province collapsed, adding to the death toll.

According to the latest figures, 42,310 people lost their lives and 108,368 people are injured. Damage surveys indicate that 173,000 buildings in 11 provinces collapsed or are heavily damaged. Due to the risk of further damage as a result of aftershocks, people are restrained from entering their houses.

STL has published its previous Situation Report on 21 February, below are a number of region wide developments for the period of 21-24 February.

  • AFAD announced that as of 23 February, 6 international search and rescue teams from 4 countries continue to work in the disaster area. Bodies are being pulled out of the rubble, while debris cleaning has started on a massive scale.
  • UN OCHA has mapped in which sector and province/region aid actors are present and delivering relief.
    Humanitarian relief and early recovery work is being carried out in the sectors of Emergency Shelter/NonFood Items, Health/Nutrition, Protection, Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH), Temporary Settlement, Education and Logistics/Emergency Telecommunication. It is possible to reach related information via the map.
  • UNDP has announced that it plans to support the Turkish government in debris management and rubble removal. The earthquake produced between 116-210 million tons of rubble, according to preliminary UNDP estimates. The 1999 Marmara earthquake had produced about 13 million tons of rubble.
  • According to the statement of the Ministry of Family and Social Services, 1,314 out of 1,858 unaccompanied children were delivered to their families. It has been stated that while 451 children continue to be treated in hospitals, 93 children stay in children’s institutions affected.

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