LAST UPDATE | 19 Feb 2023

TURKEY HAS SAID that rescue efforts following last week’s devastating earthquake had ended in all but two provinces as visiting US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced $100 million in fresh humanitarian aid.

The 7.8-magnitude tremor that struck southeastern Turkey and northern Syria on 6 February has killed more than 44,000 people, with the likelihood of finding survivors two weeks on extremely remote.

No survivors have been found in at least 24 hours.

The head of Turkey’s disaster agency Yunus Sezer today said search and rescue efforts had been completed in all provinces apart from Hatay and Kahramanmaras, the earthquake’s epicentre.

Sezer said search and rescue efforts continued at around 40 buildings in the provinces on the 14th day but expected the number to fall by late Sunday.

The agency head also said Turkey’s death toll had risen to 40,689.

The total death toll including Syria is now 44,377.

The toll from Syria has remained unchanged for days.

The quake, in one of the world’s most active seismic zones, hit populated areas as people slept, many of them in homes that had not been built to resist such powerful tremors.

The disaster has put pressure on Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan over the slow response to the quake and why his government allowed such poor-quality buildings to be erected.

More than 84,000 buildings either collapsed, need urgent demolition or were severely damaged in the quake, officials said.

One of the areas severely hit was Antakya, an ancient crossroads of civilisations.

The city has suffered several earthquakes – almost one every 100 years – and is no stranger to rebuilding.

“We will clean up and continue living here,” said optician Cuneyt Eroglu, 45, sifting through the wreckage of his shop, surrounded by twisted glasses and paraphernalia.

Unlike other parts of the old town, the street in front of his shop has not yet been cleared of the rubble and twisted metal that engulfed much of the city.

Eroglu, whose family escaped the quake uninjured, is now staying in a tent in a village outside Antakya.

“It wouldn’t be right to leave Antakya,” he said.

© AFP 2023