Earthquake in Turkey and Syria | “People send voice messages from under the rubble”: the desperate search against time for survivors between aftershocks and freezing temperatures

After more than 6,000 deaths and massive devastation from the two earthquakes that rocked southern Turkey and Syria, a race against time is underway to rescue as many people as possible from the rubble.

The earthquake that shook the region on Monday had a magnitude of 7.8 on the Richter scale and has been considered by experts as the strongest to have occurred there since 1939. It was followed by another 7.5.

This has been reflected in thousands of deaths and injuries and in hundreds of collapsed buildings where it is feared that hundreds of people are trapped.

These are the main facts about what happened:

• More than 6,300 people died after two earthquakes registered on Monday in Turkey, in an area near the border with Syria.
• More than 4,500 deaths have been registered in Turkey and more than 1,800 in Syria, according to the Turkish authorities.
• The first quake, measuring 7.8, struck near Gaziantep in southern Turkey, along the Syrian border, in the early hours of Monday while people were sleeping.
• The second, at 7.5, took place in the early afternoon, around 1:30 p.m. local time.
• Rescuers are rushing to save people trapped under rubble after hundreds of buildings collapsed in both countries.
• Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared a state of emergency in the 10 provinces most affected by the earthquakes.
• Several governments around the world have pledged to send aid in response to an international appeal from Turkey.
• Experts point out that the weather conditions, with rain and temperatures below zero, make rescue work difficult.
• Millions of people in Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Cyprus and Israel felt the quakes.

The Turkish authorities have arranged a large rescue operation that includes more than 1,000 volunteers, along with other bodies of international organizations and governments around the world that have offered their support to the Turkish and Syrian governments.

And to this panorama another inconvenience is added: the difficult climatic conditions that occur in the most affected areas.

Freezing temperatures, snow and rain are hampering search efforts for survivors, who are heard by rescuers in the rubble screaming for help.

A man in Hatay, a province in southern Turkey, wept in the rain as he described to the Reuters news agency the agonizing wait for the victims.

“They are making noise but no one comes”said Deniz, waving her hands desperately.

“We are devastated. My God. They are screaming. They are saying ‘save us’, but we cannot save them… There is no one”.

Meanwhile, in Syria, where the death toll has now reached 1,500, Raed al-Saleh of the White Helmets, a rescue service in rebel-held territory, said they were in “a race against time to save the lives of those under the rubble.

battle against time

According to Dr. Richard Edward Moon of Duke University and an expert in intensive care, rescuers are racing against time for several factors.

“Lack of water and oxygen are critical barriers to survival: each adult loses up to 1.2 liters of water per day,” said the expert.

“That is urine, exhalation, water vapor and perspiration. At the point where eight liters or more have been lost is when a person becomes seriously ill,” he added.

For Moon, the winter conditions significantly aggravate the situation.

“An average adult can tolerate temperatures of up to 21°C without the body losing its ability to retain heat. But when it’s colder, it’s a different story”, he points out.

“At that point, body temperature essentially follows the temperature of the environment. And the rate at which (hypothermia) can occur would depend on how isolated the person is, or how much underground shelter they may have. But ultimately, many of those who are unluckier under these circumstances may succumb to hypothermia,” the intensive care expert said.

Added to this is the call made by several journalists who say they have received “voice messages from people who are under the rubble.”

“People send me voice messages from under the rubble. They have sent videos to other journalists telling them where they are,” Turkish journalist Ibrahim Haskologlu told the BBC.

The journalist, who is originally from the region most affected by the earthquake, He points out that he is going to try to help with the rescue efforts.

“We have to answer that we cannot do much for them. We need all the international help we can get.”

unattended areas

According to the Turkish government, the earthquake mainly affected 10 provinces in the country.

However, inhabitants of the Hatay region, one of the most devastated by the earthquake, have denounced that no rescue organization has been present in the area.

“Not a single team has come to our district. We have been waiting for 14 hours and no one has come,” Serkan Topal, a member of the Samandag district government, located in Hatay province, about 200 kilometers south of the quake’s epicenter, told the BBC.

“I have traveled through a large part of the province and I have not come across an intact building. Most official bodies are out of order and there is an urgent need for external help,” he added.

The governor of Hatay province, Lütfü Savaş, pointed out that not a single truck with humanitarian aid has arrived in the area.

“This is a disaster that this government cannot handle. We need search and rescue teams fast. It’s two to three degrees Celsius outside right now. It’s raining. People can die from the cold.”