An entire residential neighborhood devastated in Southern Turkey by several large-magnitude earthquakes on Sunday and Monday (via @AmichaiStein1 on Twitter, Israeli Public Broadcasting)
Rescue workers are pouring into Turkey from around the world after twin 7.8 and 7.5 magnitude earthquakes devastated the region along the Turko-Syrian border on Monday morning. So far, almost 6,000 are confirmed dead in Turkey and over 1,900 in Syria, with some estimates putting as many as 180,000 people still trapped under the rubble of collapsed structures, either dead or alive. Tens of thousands more have been left homeless and exposed to winter weather.
Turkish cities such as Gaziantep, Hatay, Malatya, and Antakya (Biblical Antioch) near the quake’s epicenter were hit especially hard, with entire neighborhoods lying in rubble as the sun rose on Monday morning. One Gaziantep witness described the scene in their city during the quake as “endless noise, buildings…falling, you can feel the land cracking beneath your feet, and people running in all directions.” A Hatay resident described the desperate situation there in the wake of the disaster: “There is not a single building that we can sleep inside tonight. Tens of thousands of citizens are waiting under the rubble. There are cities and places no team has arrived.” Over 6,000 structures in total have collapsed so far in Turkey’s worst natural disaster since 1939.
Hundreds of dramatic amateur videos were posted to social media after the quake showing panicked residents in their homes and in the streets as buildings collapsed, natural gas lines exploded, and as crowds attempted to dig victims from rubble. Others reported feeling the tremors as far away as Baghdad, Cyprus and Greece. In Syria, images posted to social media showed devastation in the war-torn cities of Aleppo, Idlib and Afrin, where structures were already weakened by years of Syrian and Russian bombing. Afrin has been occupied by Turkish-aligned Islamist militias since 2018, making it nearly impossible for outside agencies to assist with rescue and relief.
Meanwhile, offers of international assistance have poured in from around the world. The State of Israel received requests from Turkey to dispatch their world-famous search and rescue teams to assist, while the Russian government requested tents and other supplies from Israel for victims of the quake in Syria. Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu announced his government’s commitment to fulfill both requests as soon as possible.
We implore the Maranatha global family to intercede urgently on behalf of the people of Southern Turkey and Northern Syria, many of which are Kurdish-majority communities in both nations. We pray for the Lord to show mercy and stay His hand from any further aftershocks. We pray for rescue crews and medical teams to be granted success in finding, rescuing and saving as many lives as possible in affected communities, and we pray that this catastrophe, as all catastrophes, would open a wide, effectual door for Gospel laborers to bring Good News of hope and healing to a region which has been devastated by war, pandemic, poverty, and now natural disaster.
More than ever: Maranatha.
