The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees warned on Friday that the devastating earthquake may have displaced 5.3 million people in Syria, which has already been suffering from an ongoing conflict for nearly 12 years. Sefanka Dana Bala, the commission's representative in Syria, stated during a press conference held in Geneva that "up to 5.3 million people may become displaced due to the earthquake," referring to preliminary estimates of those who will need shelter in all affected areas of the country. He considered this number "huge for a population that is already suffering from mass displacement."
Syria Crisis
Since 2011, Syria has been in conflict that has displaced half of its population of around 22 million, both inside and outside the country. The wave of displacement in Syria is one of the largest in the world since World War II. The destruction caused by the earthquake, centered in Turkey, has affected five Syrian provinces: Idlib (northwest), Aleppo (north), Hama (center), Latakia, and Tartus (west). The earthquake has so far claimed the lives of more than 22,300 people in Syria and Turkey, including more than 3,300 in Syria.
Search Under the Rubble
Since early Monday, residents and rescuers in several Syrian provinces have been busy searching for survivors under the rubble amid limited resources and decreasing chances of finding live individuals. In Syria, survivors have resorted to displacement camps near the Turkish border or to temporary shelters set up by authorities in the affected provinces. Some have also chosen to sleep in the streets, courtyards, and fields, or even spent nights in their cars. The representative of the refugee commission stated, "In Syria, it is a crisis within a crisis."
Details of the Turkey-Syria Earthquake
A 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck Turkey and Syria in the early hours of Monday. Residents of Cyprus, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, and Egypt felt the earthquake. The German Research Centre for Geosciences reported that the quake occurred at a depth of 10 kilometers near the city of Kahramanmaraş. The earthquake was followed by a series of aftershocks.
