On February 6, 2023, Türkiye was hit with the most devastating string of earthquakes in the last 84 years.  A 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck Gaziantep in Türkiye and a portion of north and west Syria, killing 44,000 and affecting over 14 million people, forcing 1.5 million citizens into homelessness, much of this due to collapsed buildings and infrastructure damaged by the quake and its aftershocks.This disaster, while clearly a result of natural occurrences, has a darker story behind it. Three weeks after the disaster, over 180 people involved in the development of the collapsed buildings have been arrested amid claims of corruption, as the majority of the 44,000 fatalities came from the destruction of poorly constructed properties. When questioned by CNBC regarding the arrests, Turkish Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag said, “Those formally arrested and remanded in custody include 79 construction contractors, 74 people who bear legal responsibility for buildings, 13 property owners and 18 people who had made alterations to buildings.” 

While the criminal investigations are underway, Turkish president Recep Erdogan declared a three-month state of emergency in order to allocate resources more quickly to those in need.  In addition to the emergency declaration, CNBC reports that over 25,000 search and rescue teams have been deployed to search for the missing civilians that were involved in the earthquakes. The rapid response by Erdogan is certainly a breath of fresh air for all those affected by the natural disaster and is a silver lining amidst the chaos caused by this disaster.

While recovering from earthquakes of this scale is always a challenge, it is particularly bad for Türkiye and Syria, as they have already been suffering from a combination of war and economical failure as a result of the Ukraine conflict and the Covid-19 pandemic.  The various magnitude 6 and 7 earthquakes that struck the nation could not have hit a more vulnerable target, and the ensuing property damage and loss of residence is devastating for the Syrian and Turkish people.  Concerns cover more than just economic issues however, as fires erupted in Türkiye’s Iskenderun Port, forcing the nation to halt all oil exports. The chain reaction caused by the series of earthquakes will leave a scar in the area and will certainly have lasting repercussions that will be felt by every civilian unfortunate enough to be involved in the crisis.