Puducherry: The Puducherry Assembly paid homage on Friday to the people killed in the earthquake in Turkey and Syria on February 6 that left over 50,000 people dead and countless others homeless.
As soon as the House resumed its sitting today in the Budget session, Speaker R Selvam made an obituary reference to the destruction caused by the earthquake in Turkey and Syria on February 6 resulting in the death of thousands of people and huge loss of properties as several buildings were reduced to rubble following the tremors.
The Speaker also referred to the death of former AIADMK legislator K Natarajan on February 21 and recalled the dedicated services of the MLA during his two consecutive terms as legislator of Puducherry from 1991 to 2001.
All the members stood in silence in memory of the victims in the earthquake and also to the former legislator for a couple of minutes.
The Speaker pointed out that Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw had accepted the plea of the Puducherry government for extending the Circar Express railway service, which runs from Kakinada (Andhra Pradesh) to Chengalpet, to Puducherry.
The extension would help people of Yanam region (an enclave of Puducherry in Andhra Pradesh) and the officials of the territorial government to commute between Puducherry and Yanam, the Speaker added.
The House had a debate on the motion of thanks to Lieutenant Governor Tamilisai Soundararjan for her customary address delivered on Thursday.
Members belonging to the ruling AINRC and BJP, nominated members and also legislators belonging to the opposition DMK participated in the debate.
The Speaker adjourned the proceedings to March 13.
An earthquake, with a magnitude 6.3 at a depth of two km (1.2 miles), struck the Turkey-Syria border region on Monday, the European Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) said.
Two Reuters witnesses reported a strong quake and further damage to buildings in central Antakya, where it was centered. It was also felt in Egypt and Lebanon, reported Reuters.
Other witnesses said Turkish rescue teams were running around after the latest quake, checking people were unharmed.
Muna Al Omar, a resident, said she was in a tent in a park in central Antakya when the earthquake hit.
“I thought the earth was going to split open under my feet,” she said, crying as she held her 7-year-old son in her arms.
A 6.3 magnitude earthquake at a depth of two km (1.2 miles) struck the Turkey-Syria border region on Monday, the European Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) said.
Monday’s earthquake report came a mere few hours after US Secretary of state Antony Blinken vowed to aid Turkey “for as long as it takes” after deadly earthquakes affected the country two weeks ago.
“Türkiye faces a long road ahead to support those rendered homeless, and to rebuild. The UN secretary-general has put out a very important, urgent appeal for $1 billion for long-term assistance, and we’re committed to providing support,” Blinken said.
Two Reuters witnesses reported a strong quake and further damage to buildings in central Antakya which were already affected by two massive earthquakes on February 6. Turkish rescue teams are reportedly working on damage control.
A magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck Turkey’s southern province of Kahramanmaras at 4:17 a.m. local time (0117 GMT) on February 6, followed by a magnitude 6.4 quake a few minutes later in the country’s southern province of Gaziantep and a magnitude 7.6 earthquake at 1:24 p.m. local time (1024 GMT) in the Kahramanmaras Province.
(This is an ongoing story. Further details are awaited.)
A 6.4 magnitude earthquake at a depth of two km (1.2 miles) struck the Turkey-Syria border region on Monday, the European Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) said.
The quake hit the town of Defne at 8:04 pm (17:04 GMT) and was affected the cities of Antakya and Adana, 200km (300 miles) to the north.
Turkey’s emergency management said a second magnitude 5.8 centered in Samandag district of Hatay shook the region several minutes later.
Monday’s earthquake report came a mere few hours after US Secretary of state Antony Blinken vowed to aid Turkey “for as long as it takes” after deadly earthquakes affected the country two weeks ago.
“Türkiye faces a long road ahead to support those rendered homeless, and to rebuild. The UN secretary-general has put out a very important, urgent appeal for $1 billion for long-term assistance, and we’re committed to providing support,” Blinken said.
Two Reuters witnesses reported a strong quake and further damage to buildings in central Antakya which were already affected by two massive earthquakes on February 6. Turkish rescue teams are reportedly working on damage control.
A magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck Turkey’s southern province of Kahramanmaras at 4:17 a.m. local time (0117 GMT) on February 6, followed by a magnitude 6.4 quake a few minutes later in the country’s southern province of Gaziantep and a magnitude 7.6 earthquake at 1:24 p.m. local time (1024 GMT) in the Kahramanmaras Province.
(This is an ongoing story. Further details are awaited.)
In an arson attack in the German city of Recklinhausen, Monday, February 13, 2023, people set fire to clothes worth thousands of dollars donated to earthquake victims in Turkey and Syria, local media reported.
A video clip shared on social media platforms showed the storage where all the donated clothes were stored was stormed by arsonists, burned the clothes collected by the volunteers.
As per a report by Middle East Eye, Vijay Raj, who runs the Ani store where the incident occurred, told Marler Zeitung, that his store had received a lot of clothing and cash donations for the earthquake victims in Turkey and Syria.
“Our dreams of donating these clothes and the money were shattered when two boys of European descent entered the store and set it on fire,” Raj explained.
He added, “We also found two Turkish flags that we were hanging, which were thrown into the fire and burned with the donations.”
Raj explained that he no longer accepts donations in tangible form, and asked people to give him money to give to charitable organizations working on the ground.
In Marl (NRW) wurde eine Sammelstelle für Sachspenden für die Erdbebenopfer in der Türkei und Syrien in Brand gesteckt. Der Schaden beläuft sich auf 25.000 Euro. Die Polizei ermittelt. Die Spenden auf dem Gelände des Supermarktes Ani brannten ab.
On Saturday, February 11, the German Interior Ministry said it would offer relatives of current Turkish migrants and Syrian refugees temporary visas to come to Germany from disaster areas.
“This is emergency aid,” German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser told the Bild newspaper on Saturday. “We want Turkish or Syrian families in Germany to bring their close relatives from the disaster area to their homes without bureaucracy.”
At dawn on Monday, February 6, double earthquakes, hours apart, struck southern Turkey and northern Syria, the first measuring 7.7 degrees and the second 7.6 degrees, and hundreds of violent aftershocks, which left vast losses of lives and property in both countries.
Bodies continued to be retrieved from rubble across southern Turkey on Thursday as the death toll from the earthquake neared 42,000 and anger mounted among survivors, who said lax building standards were as much to blame as the tremor itself.
A lone survivor, a 17-year-old girl, was pulled from ruins in the nearly destroyed city of Antakya, in a moment of relief for rescuers. But the almost miraculous rescue was dwarfed by an ongoing recovery operation that shows little sign of slowing down.
Such is the scale of destruction in cities such as Antakya, Kahramanmaraş and Adiyaman, that officials fear thousands of victims are yet to be found.
Rescue teams continue to work frantically across vast tracts of urban ruins, with diggers picking gently at heaped piles of rubble until a body is located. Weary rescuers then switch to cutting tools and spades, attempting to pry victims from the indistinguishable remains of their homes and placing them in body bags.
The familiar pattern has shown little signs of slowing in the south-eastern city of Adiyaman, where local people say the death toll far exceeds official figures.
“I don’t feel death any more,” said Yousuf Dogan, watching two bodies being recovered. “It has become natural to me. I’ve lost 70 family members and counting. This will end up being one of the biggest death zones in the country.”
Similar refrains come from across southern Turkey as residents try to salvage what remains of their families and belongings. But their grief is being subsumed by anger over the scale of destruction in some areas, compared with nearby communities that have remained largely unscathed.
Developers who constructed buildings that failed to meet safety standards have borne the brunt of anger. But permissive regulatory environments that facilitated the rapid construction of lower-quality structures are in the sights of survivors, who are calling on Ankara to explain how such homes were allowed to be built.
Survivors pulled from rubble 10 days after earthquakes in Turkey – video
Up to 650 people are believed to have died in one block alone in Antakya – a high-end development that completely collapsed in the quake. Turkey has ordered the arrest of more than 100 developers and builders, but officials who authorised the construction have so far escaped.
Meanwhile, the UN has announced an appeal for $1bn in relief funds for victims in southern Turkey, where, as well as almost 37,000 deaths, up to a million people have been displaced by what the Nato secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, said was the biggest ever natural disaster on Nato soil.
A separate appeal for almost $400m has been launched for neighbouring Syria, where close to 6,000 people died in the government-held areas of Aleppo and the north-west of the country, which bore the brunt of damage.
Another 1 million Syrian residents of Turkey are believed to have been affected by the disaster, with many having fallen between the cracks of Turkey, which is caring for its citizens, and the UN, which has been roundly criticised for its slow response.
“The Turkish government gave Syrians with temporary protection a permission to go to north-west Syria for three months at least and a maximum of six months, so many Syrians thought they have a better chance of surviving in the next few months at least in Syria,” said Labib al-Nahhas, the head of diplomatic outreach at the Syrian Association for Citizens’ Dignity.
“Syrian refugees return to north-west Syria because they have no other options, and no meaningful aid and assistance is given to them. It’s a forced return.”
Up to 2,300 bodies have been returned to Syria from southern Turkey, while 2,800 Syrian citizens have voluntarily gone back through the Bab al-Hawa crossing.
“Syrians are afraid that the absence of any real effort from the UN to help them rebuild their lives in south Turkey is a prelude to a forced return to regime areas,” Nahhas said.
Up to 120 aid trucks had crossed into Syria as of Thursday. However, local officials say aid needs dwarf the amount of relief being received, with large numbers of people having no shelter or protection against the winter.
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development said on Thursday that the economic toll of the quake in Turkey could reach $25bn, equating to 2.5% of the country’s GDP.
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( With inputs from : www.theguardian.com )
Doha: Qatar will send 10,000 units of cabins and caravans used during the FIFA World Cup 2022, to the homeless victims of the earthquake disaster in Syria and Turkey, local media reported.
At dawn on Monday, a 7.7-magnitude earthquake struck southern Turkey and northern Syria, followed by another hours later with a magnitude of 7.6 and hundreds of violent aftershocks, which left huge losses of lives and property in both countries.
In that situation, Qatar, the host country of the 2022 World Cup, announced that it would stand by the two countries.
The first shipment of 306 cabins is scheduled to leave the port of Doha bound for Turkey on Monday, with more shipments expected to be delivered in the coming days, according to Qatari officials.
“In light of the urgent needs in Turkey and Syria, we have decided to ship our cabins and mobile homes to the region, to provide immediate and much-needed support to the people of Turkey and Syria,” a Qatari official said in a statement to AFP.
Qatar said it will donate 10,000 mobile homes, originally used to house soccer fans during the 2022 World Cup, to quake-hit areas in Turkey and Syria pic.twitter.com/RR2EMuBj2O
The death toll from the Turkey-Syria earthquake stands at 34,878 on the seventh day.
The Turkish Disaster and Emergency Management Authority announced on Sunday, that the death toll was 29,605 and 1, 47,934 had been evacuated.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that the death toll was 5,273, adding the numbers are expected to reach 7,000.
Meanwhile, 2,400 aftershocks have occurred since the first quake hit the country early Monday morning.
On Sunday, rescue teams managed to pull out many people trapped under the rubble in several Turkish cities. However, hopes for survivors is dwindling.
On the other hand, the Civil Defense in northern Syria announced the end of rescue operations.
The Euro-Mediterranean Seismological Center announced that 70 earthquakes were recorded in Turkey on Saturday, ranging between 3 and 4.7 degrees on the Richter scale.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan promised to finish removing the rubble as soon as possible, and to start the process of rebuilding the cities damaged.
In northern Syria, millions of people face more complex conditions in light of the almost complete lack of international aid, despite the announcement of the entry of the first aid convoys provided by the United Nations and Turkey through the Bab al-Hawa border.
In parallel, international warnings rose about the possibility of the spread of some epidemics, especially cholera.
World Health Organization (WHO) announced on Saturday, that the number of people affected by the devastating earthquake reached about 26 million, distributed among 15 million in Turkey and 11 million in Syria.
The Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, arrived on Sunday, in Turkey on a working visit, during which he will meet Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Qatar News Agency (QNA) reported that the Emir of the country arrive in Istanbul, Turkey, accompanied by an official delegation, to meet with President Erdogan.
Sheikh Tamim’s visit comes at a time when Turkey is struggling to overcome the effects of the devastating earthquake that struck the southwest of the country on Monday, February 6, 2023.
On Friday, Emir of Qatar donated 50 million Qatari riyals for the earthquake-affected people in Turkey and Syria.
Donations to the Qatari campaign amounted to more than 168 million and 15 thousand and 836 Qatari riyals, as of Saturday.
Qatar provided initial aid represented by an air bridge equipped with relief and health materials and a rescue team, as well as 10,000 mobile homes, and tons of its aid arrived at the Turkish airport in Adana.
At dawn on Monday, a 7.7-magnitude earthquake struck southern Turkey and northern Syria, followed by another earth quake with a magnitude of 7.6 and hundreds of violent aftershocks, which left huge losses of lives and property in both countries.
Ankara: The devastating earthquakes that shook southern Turkey and northern Syria was the “worst event” to hit the region in a century, a senior official from the United Nations said.
“What happened here on Monday, the epicentre of the earthquake, was the worst event in 100 years in this region,” Martin Griffiths, UN Under-Secretary-General for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator, told reporters in the Turkish province of Kahramanmaras on Saturday.
More than 100 countries have sent emergency response teams to Turkey, but “we’re going to need more than that,” Griffiths said.
The UN would launch the appeal to raise money for agencies to come and help the people who’ve been affected, he added.
“We have a clear plan tomorrow (or) the day after to give an appeal for a three-month operation to help the people of Turkey with humanitarian assistance, and we will do some similar one for the people of Syria,” he said.
As they are coming to the end of the rescue phase, the UN official expressed concern for the second phase of the disaster, Xinhua news agency reported.
“The second phase of a natural disaster of this size is often a medical one, where we have huge worries here and in Syria, of the health problems which have been going on treated,” he noted.
Turkey’s response to the disaster was “extraordinary,” Griffiths added.
The death toll from Monday’s devastating earthquakes climbed to 22,327 in Turkey, while another 80,278 injuries were reported in the country, Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca announced on Saturday evening.
Search and rescue efforts in ten quake-hit 10 provinces of Turkey have now begun to turn to debris removal on the sixth day of the disaster. Rescue teams from across Turkey and around the world were still trying to find survivors in the rubble of toppled buildings and pulled them out against all odds. However, while the number of casualties is soaring, the number of injured pulled out of the rubble was so few on Saturday.
In a statement, the Turkish Medical Association warned about infectious diseases that may occur after the earthquake. Damage to infrastructure such as electricity, water and sewerage increases the risk of water and food-borne diseases, the statement said.
Risks increase for acute respiratory infections such as influenza and coronavirus, along with the possibility of contact-transmitted diseases such as scabies, lice, fungi and diarrhoeal diseases, it added.
At least 160,000 people, including foreign teams, were on the field for search and rescue efforts, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday. All the state dormitories of universities will be reserved for earthquake victims, and university students will have distance learning until the summer, he noted.
Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu slammed Germany and Austria because their teams have suspended their efforts due to security threats, and criticized them for “slandering” Turkey.
“Austria’s search and rescue team left the job with the claim of battering … From the first day (of the quake), 416 incidents took place. In the six days before the earthquake, 586 events occurred,” in the region, the Turkish Minister said.
“As many as 230 people have been detained so far, there are more than 20 arrests. Our friends take the security of the logistics warehouses, the security of the debris fields, the security of the tent sites,” he added.
(Except for the headline, the story has not been edited by Siasat staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
