UNHCR Türkiye Emergency Response to Earthquake (09 March 2023) – Türkiye

March 10, 2023 admin-dominor

BACKGROUND AND RECENT DEVELOPMENTS

On 6 February two earthquakes of 7.7 and 7.5 magnitude took place in Türkiye’s Kahramanmaraş Province, followed by subsequent earthquakes of 6.4 and 5.8 magnitudes on 20 February. Several other tremors of various magnitude in Malatya province and central Türkiye occurred on 27 February. Collectively, 11 provinces in Türkiye’s south-east region and neighbouring Syria were impacted. To date, over 13,700 aftershocks have been recorded.
As of 6 February, a three-month state of emergency was triggered for provinces directly affected by the earthquakes. On 24 February, the Disaster and Management Authority of Türkiye (AFAD) declared several districts of cities outside the 11 affected provinces “disaster zones”. On 6 March President Erdoğan announced that over 46,100 people had lost their lives in the earthquakes, of whom at least 4,267 were Syrian nationals, according to the Minister of Interior’s statement on 4 March.
The Minister of Interior announced on 5 March that 332 tent sites have been established in the 11 earthquakeaffected provinces. The sites include close to 370,500 tents hosting 1.5 million people. Additionally, around 209 container spots are set up across 10 provinces, of which 62 container spots (totaling 3,000 containers) are located in the worst-hit Hatay province. According to the Turkish President, the government plans to set up 100,000 containers and initiate relocating people from tents within two months.
The Minister of National Defence, estimates that as of 28 February, close to 42,000 Syrians have temporarily exited to Syria, through four border gates, Akçakale, Cilvegözü, Karkamış and Oncupınar. These temporary exits were reportedly to check on family in earthquakeaffected areas in Syria and attend funerals, and well as due to loss of property in Türkiye.
The Turkish government is leading the response through AFAD and provincial governors. The Turkish Red Crescent (TRC), local partners and humanitarian organisations are working alongside AFAD. The Presidency of Migration Management (PMM) is coordinating support to temporary settlements accommodating refugees and members of the host community. Whereas the Ministry of Family and Social Services (MoFSS) is making available protection and psychosocial services for women, children and at-risk groups.
The inter-sector coordination mechanism for the earthquake response has moved from Ankara to Gaziantep on 1 March. UNHCR is leading the protection sector and cash-based intervention technical working group, and contributing to other sectors with partners, NGOs and UN agencies in collaboration with the local authorities and provincial directorates.
UNHCR provides life-saving core relief items (CRI) upon the request of the Turkish government. UNHCR’s CRI provisions include emergency shelter materials, tents, blankets, hygiene and kitchen items, solar lamps, heaters and winter clothes. UN agencies also provide support through in-kind and financial contributions through the UN coordination system