Turkey and Syria earthquake death toll passes 36,000 making it one of deadliest earthquakes in last 20 years

The total number of deaths in last week’s devastating earthquake in Turkey has climbed to over 36,000, making it one of the deadliest earthquakes in the last two decades. According to the Turkish Emergency Coordination Center, the number of fatalities in Turkey alone is over 31,500.

In Syria, the confirmed death toll has surpassed 4,500.

On Sunday, a group of 10 United Nations aid trucks passed through the Bab Al-Hawa border crossing and entered northwest Syria, according to Madevi Sun-Suon, a spokesperson for UNOCHA.

The trucks, which were operated by the International Organization for Migrants (IOM) of the UN, carried complete shelter kits.

Sun-Suon said it comes after 22 UN vehicles crossed through Bab Al-Hawa on Saturday, including:

• 12 trucks from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
• 7 trucks from the World Health Organization (WHO)
• 2 trucks from the UN Population Fund (UNFPA)
• 1 truck from the UN International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF)

These convoys are the first significant international aid to reach the region following the earthquake.

The ongoing civil war in Syria has complicated the distribution of critical supplies to the earthquake-stricken regions in the north, much of which is controlled by Turkish-backed groups.

On Sunday, Martin Griffiths, the UN’s Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, expressed his concern in a tweet from the Turkey-Syria border, stating that the residents of northwest Syria “rightly feel abandoned”.

Feelings of desperation and abandonment were not restricted to the Syrian side of the border.

As the security situation in Turkey deteriorates amidst public anger over the poor government preparedness and response, Germany announced its International Search and Rescue team (ISAR) has ended its mission in the country and will return home.

“We will not forget the people in the disaster area,” ISAR said in the statement. “We are now examining which projects we can help with very quickly and sustainably.”

The German Federal Agency for Technical Relief issued a statement announcing that last Tuesday, Germany dispatched 50 recovery specialists to Turkey to search for and save people. However, on Saturday, the country suspended its relief and recovery operations due to security worries in Hatay Province.