Michaella Eizelierre P.

Torralba

Capacities and Underlying Disaster Risk Drivers

Hazard – Earthquake;

On 6 February 2023, an earthquake struck southern and central Turkey and

western Syria. As of Thursday night February 09, 2023 more than 21,000 people had
perished in Turkey and Syria as a result of the earthquake, and tens of thousands more
had been hurt. On Monday, hundreds of buildings had collapsed before daybreak, killing
and trapping others beneath the wreckage. People in the nation, who are already
coping with a civil conflict, are facing unimaginable havoc and destruction as a result of
the 7.8 magnitude earthquake and its aftershocks. The natural disaster is one of the
deadliest earthquakes in two decades.

Exposure –

Two earthquakes that occurred on February 6 in Turkey and Syria have already claimed
more than 21,000 lives, and more deaths are anticipated. The earthquakes rank among
the deadliest natural disasters of this century. There have been more than 75,000
injuries. United Nations international rescue operations and more organizations keep
operating.

Vice President Fuat Oktay estimates that 17,674 people have died in Turkey, while Al
Jazeera reports that 3,377 people have perished in Syria. The earthquake in the dead
of winter has rendered hundreds of thousands of Syrians homeless.

Near the Syrian border, there were two earthquakes with magnitudes of 7.8 and 7.5.
The largest earthquakes to be recorded in Turkey in 80 years, they struck around nine
hours apart.
Vulnerability –

Despite these obstacles, "continuous and systematic work" has been done for more
than a decade to record casualties on the ground. The brave work of these people and
organizations is what provided the data for the report.

As a result, 306,887 civilian fatalities are believed to have occurred overall, with a
reasonable range of around 95%. Given the available data and assuming that the model
is accurate, this 95% credible range suggests that there is a 95% likelihood that the
actual number of civilian fatalities falls between 281,443 and 337,971.

On the other side, a population is poorly prepared for disaster if it lacks resources, a
functioning health system, lives in a conflict-torn area, and lacks political stability. Even
earthquake effects are greatly influenced by underlying urban structures.

Links/Articles/Sources:

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/turkey-syria-earthquake-death-toll-passes-
21-000

https://www.usatoday.com/story/graphics/2023/02/10/earthquake-turkey-syria-deaths/
11210641002/

https://www.bu.edu/sph/news/articles/2023/the-turkey-syria-earthquake-and-the-
challenge-of-disasters/

https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2022/06/un-human-rights-office-estimates-
more-306000-civilians-were-killed-over-10

https://www.ohchr.org/en/hr-bodies/hrc/regular-sessions/session50/list-reports