According to CNN’s reporting, the number of people who have died as a result of the earthquakes that struck Turkey and the northern part of Syria has surpassed 34,000. At the very least, 34,179 were attained on Sunday (local time). According to the Turkish Emergency Coordination Center, SAKOM, the total number of fatalities in Turkey has now reached 29,605.
The number of deaths that have been officially documented in Syria is 4,574. According to the health ministry of the administrative authority for the Salvation Government, this total includes more than 3,160 people who were killed in areas of northern Syria that are held by the opposition.
An enormous earthquake struck Turkey and Syria, causing one of the worst natural disasters in the region in the last hundred years. At the same time that rescue workers searched the rubble for survivors, Turkish authorities were attempting to maintain order throughout the disaster zone and initiating legal action regarding collapsed buildings.
In the wake of the earthquake, there has been a heightened awareness of the level of construction quality in a nation that is located on many seismic fault lines. According to Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay, as many as 131 individuals have been identified so far as being responsible for the collapse of some of the thousands of structures that have been leveled in the 10 affected regions.
For the first time in the last twenty years, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s political career is truly in jeopardy as he prepares for the national election that will decide his fate. The president, who is being questioned about how he has responded to the earthquake, has stated that the government will deal with looters in a firm manner.
Residents and relief workers who came from other cities claimed increasing security situations, with common stories of businesses and collapsed homes being stolen. Residents and aid workers who came from other cities also cited worsening traffic problems. On Sunday, residents of a central neighbourhood in one of the worst-hit cities in Turkey, Antakya, located in southern Turkey, emptied their stores in order to protect their stock from being taken by looters.