ISTANBUL (TIP): More than 21,000 people have died in Turkey and Syria after earthquakes swept through the region Monday. Rescue workers are now racing against time to pull survivors from the rubble of collapsed buildings in freezing winter conditions. At least 78,124 people were injured across both countries, according to authorities.
The 7.8 magnitude quake struck 23 kilometers (14.2 miles) east of Nurdagi, in Turkey’s Gaziantep province, at a depth of 24.1 kilometers (14.9 miles), the United States Geological Survey (USGS) said.
The natural disaster is one of the deadliest earthquakes in two decades.
Nations around the world working to get aid to Syria: France on Thursday, February 9, pledged to give 12 million euros ($12.92 million) to Syrians impacted by the quake, the foreign ministry said. The aid will be channeled through the United Nations and nongovernmental organizations “working directly with affected populations in all of the areas struck by the earthquake,” it said. Many Western nations have refused to send aid directly to the Syrian regime, which is under sanctions. The United Kingdom pledged an additional 3 million pounds ($3.64 million) in funding to the White Helmets to support rescue and emergency relief operations in northwest Syria. Britain has so far given a total of 3.8 million pounds ($4.62 million) to the White Helmets, a volunteer organization of humanitarian responders. The United States will provide $85 million for humanitarian assistance in Turkey and Syria. Indian Army’s field hospital has started functioning in quake-ravaged Turkey. India has sent more than 250 personnel, specialized equipment and other relief material amounting to more than 135 tons to Turkey on five C-17 IAF aircraft.
UN working to open more pathways to deliver aid to Syria: A UN aid convoy crossed from Turkey into northwestern Syria on Thursday, February 9, for the first time since the earthquake hit. The six trucks carrying shelter items and Non-Food Items (NFI) drove through the Bab Al Hawa border crossing, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. UN Secretary-General António Guterres said he is open to the idea of delivering aid via additional border crossings, other than the Bab al-Hawa, which is the only humanitarian aid corridor approved by the United Nations between Turkey and rebel-held areas of northern Syria.

(Agencies)