Geology, Earthquakes & Volcanism News and Discussions

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Quake deaths pass 5,000 as Turkey, Syria seek survivors
Source: AP

By MEHMET GUZEL, GHAITH ALSAYED and SUZAN FRASER 20 minutes ago

ADANA, Turkey (AP) — Rescuers raced Tuesday to find survivors in the rubble of thousands of buildings brought down by a 7.8 magnitude earthquake and multiple aftershocks that struck eastern Turkey and neighboring Syria, with the discovery of more bodies raising the death toll to more than 5,000.

Countries around the world dispatched teams to assist in the rescue efforts, and Turkey’s disaster management agency said more than 24,400 emergency personnel were now on the ground. But with such a wide swath of territory hit by Monday’s earthquake and nearly 6,000 buildings confirmed to have collapsed in Turkey alone, their efforts were spread thin.

Attempts to reach survivors were also impeded by temperatures below freezing and close to 200 aftershocks, which made the search through unstable structures perilous.

Nurgul Atay told The Associated Press she could hear her mother’s voice beneath the rubble of a collapsed building in the city of Antakya, the capital of Hatay province, but that her and others efforts to get into the ruins had been futile without any rescue crews and heavy equipment to help.

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/science-poli ... =leadstory

[wjfox]

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[weatheriscool]

BREAKING: As many as 20,000 people may have died in Turkey-Syria quake, WHO estimates - BBC

[weatheriscool]

Updated casualty figures:

TURKEY
5,434 dead, 31,777 injured

SYRIA
2,128 dead, 4,075 injured

TOTAL
7,562 dead, 35,852 injured

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NATO Allies and Partners Come To Turkey’s Aid Following Devastating Earthquakes
February 7, 2023

Introduction:

(Eurasia Review) More than 1,400 emergency response personnel from more than twenty NATO Allies and partners – including invitees Finland and Sweden – are deploying to Türkiye, helping to respond to the devastating earthquakes which struck the country on 6 February. More than 53,000 Turkish first responders are currently on the ground.

NATO Allies and partners are providing different forms of assistance, including search and rescue teams with rescue dogs, fire fighters and structural engineering teams, medical personnel and supplies, and seismic experts.

“At this terrible time, we stand in solidarity with our Ally Türkiye and with all those affected, and NATO Allies stand ready to provide further assistance to those in need,” said NATO Spokesperson Oana Lungescu.

Support is being delivered through NATO’s Euro-Atlantic Disaster Response Coordination Centre (EADRCC), which is the Alliance’s principal civil emergency response mechanism in the Euro-Atlantic area. The Centre is active all year round, operational on a 24/7 basis, and involves all NATO Allies and partner countries. It functions as a clearing-house system for coordinating both requests for and offers of assistance mainly in case of natural and man-made disasters.

The flags of all 30 NATO Allies as well as the NATO flag are at half-mast at NATO Headquarters from today until sunset tomorrow to honour the victims and in solidarity with Türkiye.

Read more here: https://www.eurasiareview.com/07022023 ... thquakes/

[weatheriscool]

This is the price you pay when you don't regulate high building standards. People die.

[Xyls]

I'm not Turkish, so I guess I can't represent what Turkish views are. However, if some of this shit that Erdogan has done was pulled off in my country we would have the leader's head. Turks should be demanding answers from Erdogan, if he can't give them then they should turf him at the election.

https://www.theguardian.com/global-deve ... -standards

Turkey earthquake death toll prompts questions over building standards

Key quote from the article.

Architects and urban planners in the country have long warned that building codes related to seismic activity are insufficiently enforced and have been undermined by a controversial amnesty for illegal construction – introduced by Erdoğan’s own government – that netted Turkey some $3bn in revenues.

Undermining the 1999 Earthquake building standards, for money. Seems par for the course with Erdogan's corruption.

Turks should live in fear of what an earthquake in Istanbul would do. This earthquake was in an area that was relatively unpopulated compared to the Istanbul region. Also this area hasn't had a large earthquake here so I can understand that many of these buildings may have been older. But Turks will need a serious reckoning to avoid other disasters like this... will the Turks learn? Not convinced. Istanbul is a ticking time bomb and there have been major earthquakes there in the past.

I would argue that an earthquake of 7.5 in Istanbul right now has about the worst case death toll scenario of any disaster on earth.

[wjfox]

[wjfox]

A guy on LBC radio just now said that "Aleppo is no more", and the city has basically been destroyed. It was already in a bad state due to the civil war.

[Xyls]

And here we go with Erdogan's politicking and trying to deflect criticism...

Erdogan trying to censor Twitter, which is further hampering his government's shambolic response since this is where families were trying to coordinate responses to the catastrophe

https://balkaninsight.com/2023/02/08/tu ... -response/

Erdogan promising a building "blitz" over the next year. How is this consistent with making earthquake proof structures? It isn't... sounds like he is trying to pad his construction cronies pockets yet again...

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles ... ithin-year

Trying to deflect criticism by saying this a "time for unity".

https://www.dailysabah.com/politics/ove ... dogan/news

I mean Erdogan's Islamist base as allowed him to survive a lot of scandals and safety issues like several mine disasters and and earthquake in 2011. I suspect he will survive this too but he has already been seriously weakened by the weak Turkish economy with elections later this spring. Maybe, this will do him in? We will have to see... I am far from impressed with this response so far. But the Turks seem to like the guy so who knows...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2023_Turk ... l_election

[Xyls]

Interesting article about how Erdogan's career was largely propelled by the 1999 Izmir earthquake, the irony is rich here...

https://www.wsj.com/articles/turkeys-er ... 1675813751

We will see if this one does him in...

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New Method Helps Scientists Better Predict When Volcanos Will Erupt
February 8, 2023

Introduction:

(EurekAlert) ITHACA, N.Y. – Cornell University researchers have unearthed precise, microscopic clues to where magma is stored, offering a way to better assess the risk of volcanic eruptions.

In recent years, scientists have used satellite imagery, earthquake data and GPS to search for ground deformation near active volcanoes, but those techniques can be inaccurate in locating the depth of magma storage.

By finding microscopic, carbon dioxide-rich fluids encased in cooled volcanic crystals, scientists can accurately determine – within one hundred meters – where magma is located.

“A fundamental question is where magma is stored in Earth’s crust and mantle,” said Esteban Gazel, professor of engineering and lead author of the study, published in Science Advances. “That location matters because you can gauge the risk of an eruption by pinpointing the specific location of magma, instead of other signals like hydrothermal system of a volcano.”

Gazel notes that speed and precision are essential. “We’re demonstrating the enormous potential of this improved technique in terms of its rapidity and unprecedented accuracy,” he said. “We can produce data within days of the samples arriving from a site, which provides better, near real-time results.”

Read more here: https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/979172

[weatheriscool]

Updated casualty figures:

TURKEY
17,134 dead, 70,347 injured

SYRIA
3,868 dead, 5,297 injured

TOTAL
21,002 dead, 75,644 injured

[weatheriscool]

US pledges $85m for Turkey-Syria earthquake relief
Source: BBC News

The top humanitarian and aid agency in the US government has pledged $85m (£70m) in urgent life-saving relief for earthquake victims in Turkey and Syria.

The money given by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) will go towards shelter, cold weather supplies, food, water and healthcare.

The moves comes as countries around the world send search crews and aid to the region, where over 20,000 have died.

-snip-

In a statement on Thursday, USAID said it is providing emergency food and shelter, healthcare and trauma support, clean drinking water "and hygiene and sanitation assistance to keep people safe and healthy".

Read more: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/us ... r-AA17j8lQ

[Xyls]

^Wowie.

Anyways, I'm not getting any satisfaction from the "miracle" stories that are coming out of this quake, as realistically much of this did not need to happen if building standards were being enforced,and Turkey is a developed enough country to enforce them... (Syria is another story). It is also infuriating that it looks like government authorities won't do anything to improve the situation and we could be looking at a catastrophe like this in Istanbul in the not too distant future.

Also, concerning another part of the fault may now be more likely to rupture in the not so distant future and this one might be by Damascus and Beirut...

[wjfox]

[Xyls]

2019 video of Erdoğan praising zoning amnesty in quake-hit province goes viral

https://www.duvarenglish.com/2019-video ... ideo-61831

Looks like the damage to Erdogan is sticking to him this time. Especially since many of the worst hit areas were Erdogan strongholds.

Don't come here asking for votes: Turkey Prez Erdogan faces people's wrath after quake

https://www.indiatoday.in/world/story/t ... 2023-02-10

Also looks like he is now trying to arrest all the contractors he can. While I agree these contractors and architects were huge assholes to not build to code, I don't see anything happening as the government granted them permission. So unless Turkey has total kangaroo courts (possible) then they can just point to the government for granting them the approval to do so.

Erdogan is going to wear this. Now there is talk he may try to delay elections... this will further anger the public most likely. I think this may be the end for him...

[Xyls]

Erdogan also appears to be using the earthquake state of emergency over "looting"

To target Kurds in the country...

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Humanitarian First: Delivering Aid to Syria in Aftermath Of Earthquake – Analysis
by Julien Barnes-Dacey and Kelly Petillo
February 15 , 2023

Introduction:

(Eurasia Review) On 6 February, a 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck Turkey and Syria. It was one of the deadliest incidents of this kind in a decade, with a death toll already surpassing 17,000. This figure could quickly climb into the tens of thousands. As many as 5,775 buildings have reportedly collapsed, including homes, hospitals, and schools, leaving hundreds of thousands homeless. But while emergency aid to Turkey is flowing relatively unhindered – and an international aid operation has quickly sprung into action – political dilemmas are significantly hampering its passage into Syria. Far too little is headed into non-government controlled areas and without a rapid humanitarian effort, the suffering and death toll will be far higher than they need to be. With the clock ticking away Europeans quickly need to create solutions, mobilising joint diplomatic efforts to find a pathway for aid to enter the region.

The Turkish president, Recep Tayipp Erdogan, has already announced a three-month state of emergency in the ten stricken Turkish provinces and the government says that up to 13.5 million people in Turkey have been affected by the earthquake. On both the Turkish and Syrian side, many of those who will be most affected are Syrian refugees and the internally displaced. These people already lived in an extremely dire state, struggling desperately with cold winter temperatures, as well as food and fuel shortages.

Those living in Syria urgently need humanitarian support, but three days after the earthquake minimal aid is trickling into the country, particularly into non-government controlled areas which find themselves completely isolated. So far only a few small convoys have managed to enter north-west Syria, which has been most affected by the earthquake. While Russia, Iran, the United Arab Emirates, Algeria, and Iraq have sent some humanitarian support and rescue teams to government-held areas in Syria – where needs are also very real – no one is delivering meaningful amounts of aid to the north-west. Efforts here are almost entirely reliant on local NGOs, which lack the capacity, resources, and energy to manage in the face of this devastating crisis. They urgently need expertise, machinery, and fuel which they are simply not getting.

Read more here: https://www.eurasiareview.com/15022023 ... analysis/