Here's how to help Türkiye and Syria earthquake victims
Search and rescue efforts continue in Türkiye and Syria after a devastating 7.7 magnitude earthquake left behind a massive trail of death and destruction.
Rescue efforts are underway in southeastern Türkiye and northern Syria after a 7.7 magnitude earthquake struck Türkiye’s Kahramanmaras province early Monday, causing numberous aftershocks.
A second earthquake of 7.6 magnitude also struck Kahramanmaras at 1:24 pm local time.
So far, the death toll in Türkiye has risen to 3,703, according to the country's disaster agency AFAD, and about 1,602 have been recorded in Syria, according to the regime’s Ministry of Health and the White Helmets rescue organisation. Thousands of people have been injured on both sides.
Here’s what you can do to help:
Türkiye’s disaster agency AFAD is coordinating all rescue and relief efforts in the affected southern provinces and is accepting donations with information available on its website.
The White Helmets, officially known as Syria Civil Defence, is a humanitarian collective and civil aid organisation that operates in parts of opposition-controlled Syria and in Türkiye. The volunteer-based group was formed in 2014 during the Syrian civil war and has worked to provide medical care, urban search and rescue in response to bombing, evacuation of civilians from danger areas and essential service delivery. The organisation is collecting donations.
Islamic Relief Worldwide is a humanitarian and development agency working to support and empower the world’s most vulnerable people. The organisation is accepting donations.
AKUT is a Turkish voluntary, non-governmental organisation involved in searching, assisting and rescuing victims of the earthquake. They are accepting donations.
The Union of Medical Care and Relief Organisations has provided independent and impartial relief and medical care to victims of war in Syria since 2012. It has put out an urgent call to the international community to release emergency funds for aid and rescue resources. You can donate here.
IHH Humanitarian Relief Foundation is a Turkish NGO active in more than 120 countries. IHH provides humanitarian relief in areas of war, earthquake, hunger, and conflict. You can donate here.
AHBAP is a local voluntary network with over 200 philanthropists and 30,000 volunteers on board. Volunteers are working to help provide shelter, food and medical supplies to those in need. You can donate here.
OXFAM is a British-founded confederation of 21 independent charitable organisations focusing on the alleviation of global poverty. It has said it is working with women’s cooperatives in Türkiye to determine an appropriate response plan. It is accepting donations.
NuDay is a non-profit organisation empowering Syria's women and children for a brighter future. Your donations go to aid initiatives.
The United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund, better known as UNICEF, said it is in Syria and prioritising water, sanitation, hygiene and nutrition. It is also helping unaccompanied children locate their families. UNICEF is accepting donations.
Doctors Without Borders, which responds to global medical emergencies, is collecting donations.
The Syrian American Medical Society, a United States-based humanitarian group that supplies medical care in Syria and nearby countries, is collecting donations to deliver emergency aid.
Global Giving, which helps local nonprofit agencies, is collecting donations to help fund emergency medical workers’ ability to provide food, shelter and medicine, among other necessities. The organisation said it will focus on long-term assistance as needs in Türkiye and Syria change.
Save the Children is accepting donations for its Children’s Emergency Fund, which will help provide children with food, shelter and warm clothing.
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies is requesting donations for its Disaster Response Emergency Fund so it can send “immediate cash assistance.”
CARE, an organisation that works with impoverished communities, is accepting donations that will go toward food, shelter and hygiene kits.
READ MORE: Live updates: Massive rescue effort in Türkiye, Syria as deaths pass 5,000
#TurkiyeQuakes: Three children rescued from rubble in Hatay as search & rescue efforts continue following deadly earthquakes pic.twitter.com/yUfiXYhn21
— TRT World Now (@TRTWorldNow) February 7, 2023
Thousands of domestic and foreign rescue workers have been sent to the affected region, but people in remote towns in southern Türkiye say relief efforts have been stretched to breaking point amid destruction spanning almost 1046 kilometres.
In opposition-held northern Syria, volunteer rescue workers have said they lack some of the most basic fuel and other provisions required to pull those still trapped under the rubble of their homes.
The opposition-held enclave is a refuge for around four million people, many of whom have been uprooted by a Russian-backed Syrian regime during the more than decade-long Syrian conflict.
An unknown number of people remain trapped and efforts to find survivors have been frustrated by frigid conditions.
The World Health Organization has warned that the number of casualties could exceed 20,000.
At least 1,451 people lost their lives in Syria by quakes that hit neighbouring Türkiye:
— TRT World Now (@TRTWorldNow) February 7, 2023
- Opposition-controlled areas: 740 dead, according to White Helmets
- Regime-controlled areas: 711 people dead, according to regime media#TurkiyeQuakes pic.twitter.com/hU9IDlRDYr