Turkey-Syria earthquake: Death toll crosses 35,000, recovery 'could take over a generation'

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Children rescued alive from the rubble, more than a week after earthquakes

Two children have been rescued from the rubble following the devastating earthquakes in Turkey and Syria, nearly a week after they struck on 6 February. 

A 10-year-old girl was rescued from the rubble of an apartment block in the southern Turkish province of Kahramanmaras on Monday, 183 hours after a devastating earthquake shook the region, state broadcaster TRT Haber reported.

Earlier in the day, a 13-year-old was pulled out alive from under the rubble of a collapsed building in Turkey's southern Hatay province. The teenager held a rescuer's hand as he was placed on a stretcher, head braced, and covered for warmth, before he was moved into an ambulance.

How Syria's war has hindered earthquake relief

Relief efforts in earthquake-affected Syria have been hampered by a civil war that has splintered the country and divided regional and global powers.

Syria has been fractured after 12 years of conflict, and President Bashar al-Assad, has been accused of committing widespread atrocities against the Syrian people. The  United Nations says 4 million people needed assistance even before the earthquake.

Not tents, no aid, no hope, our latest from NW Syria, where Idlib is enduring the earthquake's aftermath alone. With _@rachaelthorn Robbie Wright and Feras Kawaf pic.twitter.com/0woHpeNqfy

— Quentin Sommerville (@sommervilletv) February 13, 2023

The rebel-held northwest is the area in Syria hardest hit by the 7.8 magnitude earthquake, although nearby government-controlled regions have also suffered widespread casualties and destruction.

Assad's government says foreign countries should respect Syria's sovereignty and that aid for any part of the country should enter via territory under government control.

There are four border crossings between Syria and Turkey - three of which have been forced shut by Damascus' ally Russia at the United Nations. 

Read the full article summarising the challenges facing aid delivery in Syria.

Recovery from Turkey-Syria quake 'could take over a generation': aid group

Recovery from the Turkey-Syria earthquake could take "over a generation", a humanitarian organisation has warned a week after the disaster struck.

Last Monday's 7.8-magnitude earthquake, which has killed over 35,000 people in southern Turkey and northern Syria, has caused devastation not seen in over a decade, according to World Vision, who have been providing aid in the region following the quake.

Eyes scan the horizon, hearts yearn for relief, and hope hangs by a fragile strand. The search for survivors and recovery of victims from under the rubble in Jindires on February 7th.#Syria #earthquake pic.twitter.com/ZaWY3ZT9Mx

— The White Helmets (@SyriaCivilDef) February 11, 2023

"The earthquake is serving up a cocktail of catastrophe from wide scale death, destruction and injuries… The impact is so enormous," Johan Mooij, World Vision Syria Response Director was quoted as saying in a statement received by The New Arab.

"It could take a generation for survivors to recover, maybe longer in Northern Syria where millions were already living on humanitarian aid with few prospects of their lives improving," they added.

Up to seven people were sharing tents due to the scale of displacement from Syria’s conflict prior to the quake, and following the earthquake this figure has reached 17 people per tent, the aid organisation said.

Read the full story here.

Syria's Bashar al-Assad to consider opening more border crossings into quake-hit northern Syria: WHO

The WHO chief said on Sunday that Syria's President Bashar al-Assad had voiced openness to more border crossings for aid to be brought to quake victims in the country's rebel-held northwest.

World Health Organisation chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus met with the Syrian president in Damascus on Sunday afternoon to discuss the response to the devastating earthquake which has killed more than 35,000 people across Syria and Turkey.

I've seen first-hand the unbearable toll the earthquake has taken on people in #Syria. @WHO teams are working in affected areas and aiming to further scale up across the country, including in the northwest. But much more help is needed. https://t.co/TYLMqD63XY pic.twitter.com/XrdFlEVsKW

— Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) February 12, 2023

Concerns have been running particularly high for how aid might reach all those in need in Syria, which has been devastated by more than a decade of civil war where Assad and his allies have been accused of committing widespread atrocities.

Three of four border crossings into rebel-held parts of northern Syria have been forced shut by Assad's allies at the UN, hindering aid deliveries to the stricken region. 

UN aid chief: earthquake rescue phase 'coming to a close'

The phase of the rescue after the major earthquake struck Turkey and Syria a week ago is "coming to a close" with urgency now switching to shelter, food, schooling and psychosocial care, the UN aid chief said during a visit to Syria on Monday.

"What is the most striking here, is even in Aleppo, which has suffered so much these many years, this moment ... was about the worst that these people have experienced," Martin Griffiths said from the government-held northwestern Syrian city of Aleppo that was a major front line in the Syrian civil war.

Trucks with UN relief are rolling into north-west #Syria.

I am encouraged by the scale-up of convoys from the UN transshipment centre at the Turkish border.

We need to open more access points and get more aid out fast. pic.twitter.com/EK2ZLSxb5l

— Martin Griffiths (@UNReliefChief) February 12, 2023

The 6 February earthquake struck a swathe of northwest Syria, a region partitioned by the 11-year-long war, including insurgent-held territory at the Turkish border and government areas controlled by President Bashar al-Assad.

Death toll in Syria surpasses 4,300, according to UN

More than 4,300 people were dead and more than 7,600 others were injured in northwest Syria as of 12 February following the deadly earthquake and aftershocks in neighbouring Turkey, the UN office for humanitarian affairs (OCHA) said in a statement on Monday.

Rescue workers in Syria's opposition-held northwest zones have revealed a lower toll as of Friday, and are anticipating announcing higher toll in the hours ahead.