PPM Disaster Response: Earthquake in Turkey

It's been six weeks since multiple 7.8- and 7.5-magnitude earthquakes hit Turkey’s southeast region, where around 13.5 million people reside. It is estimated that 1.9 million people are currently living in temporary shelters and many more are displaced. The scale of this disaster is on a scale rarely seen in our lifetimes.

Turkish partners on the ground are working to provide assistance, support, and care to those most affected. They are working tirelessly to identify needs and help in whatever way they can.

As of now, the greatest needs are:

Shelter: There is still a great need for tents. A disaster response tent costs around $500 and can provide shelter to a family of 6. Please consider donating to provide a shelter to a family.

Blankets: A blanket costs roughly $10.

Hygiene kits: One kit costs around $25 and will provide a family with a box of all of the hygiene items that they need for a month.

Ready-to-eat meals and water: $10 can purchase 28 loaves of bread and another $10 will provide 130 bottles of water.

Please pray for these survivors and consider giving financially. The need is great.

Day 15 - February 21, 2023 - A magnitude 6.3 earthquake struck southern Turkey near the Syrian border late on Monday, setting off panic and further damaging buildings two weeks after the country's worst earthquake in modern history left tens of thousands dead.

Turkey has said rescue teams have stopped recovery efforts in all but two hardest hit provinces, a fortnight after the catastrophic earthquake that laid waste to parts of the country. Efforts, however, will continue in the cities of Antakya and Kahmaranmaras, which were rendered largely uninhabitable by the 7.8 magnitude quake, which killed more than 41,000 people in southern Turkey and at least 4,000 more in neighboring Syria.

The Turkish vice-president, Fuat Oktay, said on Saturday that about 105,000 buildings had either collapsed, needed to be demolished or were severely damaged in the quake. These numbers indicate the severity of this disaster which forced literally hundreds of thousands of people homeless. 

Please continue to pray for Turkey and the survivors of this disaster. People are trembling with fear of another possible earthquake and they are both physically and emotionally exhausted. Pray that, our Lord, the Lord of comfort would remove their fear, comfort them and give them the peace they need at this very moment.

photo credit: Cukurova Manset

Day 8 - February 13, 2023 - It’s been a week since the two massive earthquakes - 7.8 and 7.5 in magnitude struck Turkey. As of today, the death toll is 31,643 in Turkey and 5,714 in Syria. The deadliest quake in Turkey since 1939 forced the evacuation of 160,000 from the quake zone, putting 80,000 people in hospitals, and more than 1 million in temporary shelters at the weekend, Turkey's Disaster and Emergency Management Authority said. The quake is now the sixth most deadly natural disaster this century, behind the 2005 tremor that killed at least 73,000 in Pakistan.

However, even though we are still hearing a few miracle rescue stories everyday, the rescue phase is “coming to a close” with the focus now switching to providing shelter, food and schooling. Amid concerns about hygiene and the spread of infection in the region, Turkey's Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said on the weekend that rabies and tetanus vaccine had been sent to the quake zone and that mobile pharmacies had started to operate there. 

Thankfully, millions of people throughout Turkey and across the world have responded to this disaster with love and with a sense of urgency. People are praying, giving and going in order to help the survivors. Even in the U.S., over the weekend, many churches united in prayer and cried out to the Lord for the people of Turkey and Syria. PPM is still asking that you continue to lift up Turkey in prayer, give financially and intentionally pray to discern how else you or your church can get involved in the near future. We are connected to the local churches and will continue to enable and empower them so that they can be the light that shines in the darkness!! 

photo credit: Caritas Turkey

Day 5 - February 10, 2023 - As of Friday morning, the death toll in Turkey rose to 18,342, a staggering number in just five days, and one expected to grow. Turkey said almost 3,000 buildings had collapsed in seven different provinces, including public hospitals. Turkey’s Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) said it has recorded almost 650 aftershocks since the two earthquakes - 7.8 and 7.5 in magnitude struck, making rescue efforts more difficult and dangerous as emergency teams sift through severely damaged buildings. 

Unfortunately, the earthquake made hundreds of thousands of people homeless and forced them to live in banks of tents erected in stadiums and shattered city centers. The survivors are desperately in need of basic necessities such as food and drinks, diapers, hygiene items, blankets, etc. and heavily depend on the help they receive from the government and the nongovernmental organizations. However, due to the damage to the roads and highways, including three regional airports, it’s been extremely difficult to transport the aid to the region. 

We ask that you continue to pray for Turkey and the survivors and consider giving financially. PPM is currently in contact with the local churches and Turkey’s only Christian non-profit organization called, First Hope Association, that aims to constitute a model that shows the solidarity and goodness of God, focusing on the words of Jesus, “Treat others how you want to be treated” and to leave a heritage that targets helping people. 

photo credit: Daily Sabah

Day 3 - February 8, 2023 - According to Turkey’s Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) the death toll has risen to 8,574 and the number of those who have been injured has gone up to 49,133. Unfortunately, images and news from the quake that hit the region depict the agony that people are experiencing. However, we are also getting news of people who are being rescued from the collapsed buildings. Getting the news of rescuing someone gives us hope and encourages us that all of those rescue efforts are not done in vain. So please, continue to pray so that we would hear more of these miracle stories. 

We also need you to pray for resources. Our connections in the region are reporting that there is a lack of food, gas, and shelter. Literally millions of people are living outside despite the frigid temperatures and hoping that things will get better. However, after such a disaster there is a long way to recovery and normality. Unfortunately, after such a massive earthquake and its damage, life will not be the same for hundreds of thousands of people and there will be much work to do in the region. 

As we continue to pray for the situation, we are also reminded that our Lord is able and nothing is impossible with Him. This has been the verse and the prayer that comes to mind:

“ ‘Is not my word like fire,’ declares the Lord, ‘and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces?’” - Jeremiah 23: 29

So Lord, we pray that your word would be like a fire and like a hammer that breaks a rock to pieces in every place where people are trapped and they would be set free in body, mind and spirit!! In Jesus’ precious name!!

Photo by Burak Kara/Getty Images

Day 2 - February 7, 2023 - Today, as the scale of the devastation from the initial 7.8 magnitude quake – and a second 7.5 magnitude tremor – became clearer, the dire situation in Turkey seems to be getting worse. According to the Turkish authorities the death total has already more than doubled and spiked up to 4,300 while the World Health Organization warned that the number of casualties could exceed 20,000. Therefore the Turkish authorities declared a state of emergency in 10 provinces which would make it extremely difficult to get to those provinces.

Unfortunately, the relief efforts have been stretched to breaking point in remote towns of southern Turkey due to frigid conditions. Poor internet connections and damaged roads between some of the worst-hit cities in Turkey’s south, home to millions of people, also hindered rescue teams. Ali Ünlü, from the remote town of Adiyaman, close to the quake epicenter in Kahramanmaras, said he had been working since Monday morning to free his elderly mother who was trapped under the rubble of her home.

“After the earthquake I ran to my mother’s house, and saw the building had collapsed. I was devastated. I started waiting for rescue teams, but they didn’t show up. I started calling officials, all the lines cut out,” he said.

“The weather is extremely cold, and we have no food. At first, one of my relatives texted that he was under the rubble and we could hear his voice under the debris. He was trapped there for four hours, and eventually we dug him out.”

“It’s been over 24 hours and my mother is still trapped under the rubble. I don’t know if she’s still alive or not. Resources are stretched so thin, but I feel there’s a lack of organization.”

PPM has connections in the region and is trying to identify how to meet the needs at this moment. Until we have a solid plan to hit the ground physically, we are praying that our God, who can move the mountains, would move the rubble and save lives so that we would have stories of miracle after miracle…and even in the midst of this calamity people would experience the mercy and love of our Heavenly Father!