March 28, 2024 10:20 PM
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Earthquake takeaways: Hope fading in frigid Turkey, Syria – Associated Press

The search for survivors of the earthquake that toppled thousands of buildings in Turkey and Syria reached a critical stretch on Wednesday, with rescue teams from two dozen countries helping locals sift through the rubble and experts warning that the realistic window to find any in the frigid temperatures was quickly closing.

People stand by collapsed buildings in Golbasi, in Adiyaman province, southern Turkey, Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2023. Thinly stretched rescue teams worked through the night in Turkey and Syria, pulling more bodies from the rubble of thousands of buildings toppled by a catastrophic earthquake. The death toll rose Wednesday to more than 10,000, making the quake the deadliest in more than a decade. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)

The death toll from the magnitude 7.8 quake that struck Monday neared 12,000, making it the deadliest since a magnitude 9.0 quake off the coast of Japan in March 2011 triggered a tsunami, killing nearly 20,000. Nearly all of Turkey is very seismically active so the country is no stranger to devastating earthquakes — a 7.4 magnitude temblor that struck near Istanbul in 1999 killed an estimated 18,000 people.

With the damage from Monday’s quake so extensive and spread so widely, experts said the window for survival was quickly closing, though people can survive for up to a week or more, depending on the circumstances.

Collapsed houses and a standing statue of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, founder of modern Turkey, in Golbasi, in Adiyaman province, southern Turkey, Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2023. Thinly stretched rescue teams worked through the night in Turkey and Syria, pulling more bodies from the rubble of thousands of buildings toppled by a catastrophic earthquake. The death toll rose Wednesday to more than 10,000, making the quake the deadliest in more than a decade. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)

The extent of the devastation was breathtaking, with rows of apartment blocks reduced to twisted metal, rubble and dust in many communities. Rescuers formed human chains as they tried to dig through collapsed buildings, urging quiet every so often in the hopes of hearing stifled pleas for help.

GLIMPSES OF HOPE

The overwhelming sadness has given way to moments of muted joy. In the town of Jinderis in northwestern Syria, where 12 years of conflict has complicated rescue efforts, residents digging through a collapsed building Monday afternoon discovered a crying infant whose mother appears to have given birth to her while buried in the rubble. The girl’s mother, father and four siblings didn’t survive. Rescuers pulled another little girl from the wreckage of a collapsed building in the same town that evening.

FILE – Rescue teams carry the body of a victim from a destroyed building after a devastating earthquake rocked Syria and Turkey, in Aleppo, Syria, Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2023. For years, the people of Aleppo bore the brunt of bombardment and fighting when their city, once Syria’s largest and most cosmopolitan, was one of the civil war’s fiercest battle zones. Even that didn’t prepare them for the new devastation and terror wreaked by this week’s earthquake. (AP Photo/Omar Sanadiki, File)

Former Chelsea and Newcastle forward Christian Atsu was rescued from the ruins of a collapsed building in the southern Turkey city of Antakya, where his current team, Hatayspor, is based, the Ghana Football Association tweeted Tuesday.

In the southern Turkey city of Kahramanmaras, Mufit Hisir told The Associated Press that rescuers pulled his mother and brother alive from the rubble after digging for hours.

Family members get warm with a fire in front of their destroyed home as rescue teams search for people in Elbistan, southern Turkey, Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2023. With the hope of finding survivors fading, stretched rescue teams in Turkey and Syria searched Wednesday for signs of life in the rubble of thousands of buildings toppled by a catastrophic earthquake. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

MOUNTING FRUSTRATION

Many whose homes were damaged or destroyed expressed frustration at the Turkish government response, having to sleep in cars, shelters or outside in subfreezing temperatures.

“We don’t have a tent, we don’t have a heating stove, we don’t have anything. Our children are in bad shape. We are all getting wet under the rain and our kids are out in the cold,” Aysan Kurt, 27, told the AP. “We did not die from hunger or the earthquake, but we will die freezing from the cold. It shouldn’t be this way. No one is sending help.”

A damaged road in Golbasi, in Adiyaman province, southern Turkey, Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2023. Thinly stretched rescue teams worked through the night in Turkey and Syria, pulling more bodies from the rubble of thousands of buildings toppled by a catastrophic earthquake. The death toll rose Wednesday to more than 10,000, making the quake the deadliest in more than a decade. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan visited the especially hard-hit Hatay province, where more than 3,300 people died and entire neighborhoods were destroyed. Residents there have accused the government of being slow to send help.

Erdogan, who faces a tough battle for reelection in May, acknowledged “shortcomings” in the response but said the weather had been a factor. The earthquake destroyed the runway in Hatay’s airport, further disrupting the response.

He also hit back at critics, saying “dishonorable people” were spreading “lies and slander” about the government’s response.

A man bring blankets and mattress as rescue teams search for people in destroyed buildings in Elbistan, southern Turkey, Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2023. With the hope of finding survivors fading, stretched rescue teams in Turkey and Syria searched Wednesday for signs of life in the rubble of thousands of buildings toppled by a catastrophic earthquake. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

Turkish authorities said they were targeting disinformation, and an internet monitoring group said access to Twitter was restricted despite it being used by survivors to alert rescuers.

OFFERS OF AID

Crews from at least 24 countries, including those at odds over the war in Ukraine, are taking part in the rescue operation.

Among the countries helping is Turkey’s neighbor and historic rival Greece, which is sending Turkey a team of 21 rescuers, two rescue dogs and a special rescue vehicle, together with a structural engineer, five doctors and seismic planning experts in a military transport plane.

Families who lost their homes in a devastating earthquake in Syria sit inside a tent that an NGO set up to provide them shelter and food in the town of Harem near the Turkish border, Idlib province, Syria, Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2023. With the hope of finding survivors fading, stretched rescue teams in Turkey and Syria searched Wednesday for signs of life in the rubble of thousands of buildings toppled by a catastrophic earthquake. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)

And aid groups including the International Committee of the Red Cross are sending assistance, including medical equipment, food, blankets, mattresses and other essential items.

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