On Monday 6 February, at about 4 am local time, a 7.8 magnitude earthquake hit Kahramanmara province in Turkey, near the Turkey-Syria border. The earthquake reverberated across different provinces in the south of Turkey and northwestern Syria and was also felt in Lebanon, Israel and other countries in the region. About 8 hours later, a second, 7.5 magnitude earthquake also happened in the same area.
Major devastation and destruction were reported in the northwestern parts of Syria. Aftershocks were felt for hours afterwards including one at 6.6 magnitude. This is one of the strongest earthquakes to hit the region in 100 years.
In Idlib and parts of Aleppo in Northwest Syria, civil society organizations have declared the area a disaster zone as the number of casualties remains unknown. There are also casualties in Northeast Syria, and though the exact number is unconfirmed, it is already in the hundreds.
The cold weather is exacerbating the search and rescue operations.
READ MOREProblem We Are Trying to Solve
Given the ongoing conflict, this pocket has already seen extensive violence and destruction, is host to hundreds of thousands of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), and is very difficult to access to deliver relief aid. There is no systematic response on the ground, and the poor conditions of the temporary settlements and camps, on top of the harsh winter conditions, exacerbate the situation.
How We Are Going To Do It
Maram Foundation has been active in southeast Turkey and northwest Syria for over 10 years. It’s founder, Yakzan Shishakly, is a Syrian-American who launched the foundation in 2012 in response to the displacement and humanitarian crisis caused by the conflict in Syria. He organized and ran Syria’s first and largest IDP camp, located in Atmeh, Syria, and also set up an orphanage in Reyhanl?, Turkey for Syrian orphans. Today, Maram continues its activities as an independent humanitarian NGO with a team of more than 250 aid workers providing protection and humanitarian assistance in the area.
Maram has established a communication and coordination mechanism, to ensure a good alignment and coordination across the different locations as we try and understand further the actual situation on the ground, and, consequently, has opened a temporary shelter, in Sheikh Bahar.
There is an immediate need for core NFIs, cash distribution, winterization and food assistance, to maintain the activities of this shelter, and any need for a potential scale up.
Who Benefits
The temporary shelter serves the earthquake victims, prioritizing women, children, and elderly individuals.
Long Term Impact
To have hosted and responded to immediate needs of the community until they are able to arrange permanent accommodation.
What We Need To Do
There is a need for funding to support the temporary shelter in the short- and mid-term future until permanent accommodation can be arranged.
Please help the people in need and donate and share the link to our project.
The victims need your support urgently.
Thank you.
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