On 6 February 2023, a powerful earthquake (7.8 on the Richter scale) took place on the border of Turkey and Syria. It was followed by a wave of over a hundred extremely strong aftershocks. As a result of the disaster, more than 20,000 people died and almost 100,000 were injured in both countries (as of 10 February 2023). In Turkey, negative effects of the earthquake were felt by some 20 million inhabitants, while tens of thousands of buildings were damaged in thirteen provinces located in the southern and eastern regions of the country. Due to its magnitude, scale of damage and number of fatalities, the recent earthquake has been the largest one in Turkey’s history since the 1939 Erzincan earthquake.

Jan Niemiec

KBN Commentary no. 2 (105) / 2023

11 February 2023

On 6 February 2023, a powerful earthquake (7.8 on the Richter scale) took place on the border of Turkey and Syria. It was followed by a wave of over a hundred extremely strong aftershocks. As a result of the disaster, more than 20,000 people died and almost 100,000 were injured in both countries (as of 10 February 2023). In Turkey, negative effects of the earthquake were felt by some 20 million inhabitants, while tens of thousands of buildings were damaged in thirteen provinces located in the southern and eastern regions of the country. Due to its magnitude, scale of damage and number of fatalities, the recent earthquake has been the largest one in Turkey’s history since the 1939 Erzincan earthquake. In the face of huge human and material losses, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced a three-month state of emergency in ten provinces affected by the earthquake. From the government's perspective, the earthquake follows a series of serious challenges (along with struggles against Kurdish military groups, increasing terrorist threat, prolonged economic crisis and growing social tensions) that may have an impact on the outcome of presidential and parliamentary elections scheduled for May this year.

In the photo: The view of the damage in the city of Kahramanmaraş

Photo credit: Twitter.