Turkey-Syria earthquake live news: UN calls for more aid

• The death toll from the Turkey-Syria earthquakes has passed 21,000. At least 17,674 people have been killed in Turkey, according to Vice President Fuat Oktay, while at least 3,377 are known to have died in Syria.
• The World Bank has promised $1.78bn to Turkey in relief and recovery assistance.
• 6m ago (06:32 GMT)Why did so many buildings collapse in Turkey?Several factors coalesced to make the devastation of the quakes in Turkey so severe, experts told Al Jazeera.While the strength, location and rapid succession of the earthquakes would pose a risk to any buildings, experts also pointed to non-compulsory government reforms that left many buildings vulnerable.“On paper, Turkey’s seismic design code is up to global standards – it is actually better than most,” Sinan Turkkan, civil engineer and president of Turkey’s Earthquake Retrofit Association, told Al Jazeera. “In practice, however, the situation is very different.”Read more here. Local residents walk in front of a destroyed building in Nurdagi, southeastern Turkey [Petros Giannakouris/The Associated Press]
• 40m ago (05:58 GMT)Northwest Syrian towns struggle in wake of quakesThe local and international response in the wake of Monday’s earthquakes have been most complicated in opposition-held Syria, which remains the most isolated of the affected areas.On Thursday, the first UN aid convoy since the quakes passed into the region from Turkey through the Bab al-Hawa crossing. Aid had been slowed by logistical issues and damage to the road connecting Gaziantep to the UN transhipment hub in Hatay.Rights observers have decried the slow trickle of aid to the region amid Syria’s 12-year civil war.Assaad al-Achi, head of the civil society organisation Baytna Syria, told Al Jazeera that the Turkish government has authorised aid to go through two additional crossings, Bab al-Salama and al-Rai, although UN officials have said Bab al-Hawa remains their only approved crossing.
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• More bad news predicted for Turkey’s economy
• Turkey is set to release industrial production figures for December, with a Reuters poll showing the sector had likely contracted by 1.3 percent compared with the same period last year. Turkey is also set to release unemployment figures for that month on Friday.
• The country had already contended with sky-high inflation and stagnation in some industries following a post-pandemic boost.
• Analysts are still determining the long-term economic fallout of Monday’s devastation, which is expected to result in a spike in public spending, but has also been met with an influx of aid, including $1.78bn in relief and recovery financing assistance from the World Bank.
• Istanbul’s stock exchange has suspended trading until February 15.
• 1h ago (05:31 GMT)Ukrainian rescuers fly in from war zone to help TurkeyUkrainian rescue experts have become all too familiar with emergencies in a war zone.They have now brought their skills to Turkey to search for earthquake survivors. Ukraine sent 88 emergency responders to Turkey on Thursday to help with the disaster. The team includes specialists in search and rescue operations, doctors, dog handlers and firefighters.“There is a war in our country, but we understand that we have to help, and this aid is mutual,” said Oleksandr Khorunzhyi, spokesperson for the State Emergency Service of Ukraine.Read more here.Ukrainian rescuers in Hatay, Turkey [Emilie Madi/Reuters]
• 1h ago (05:18 GMT)Australia deploys search and rescue team, New Zealand donates more money for reliefAustralia says it has sent a team of 72 people to help with search and rescue efforts in Turkey.The team will have about 22 tonnes of equipment and critical supplies, including tents, bandages, bolt cutters, chainsaws and drills.The team “will make a real difference,” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese wrote on Twitter.He noted Australia earlier announced a contribution of $10 million Australian dollars ($6.9m) to the aid efforts.Meanwhile, New Zealand has announced an additional $1.9m towards humanitarian efforts in Turkey and Syria, bringing its total contribution to $2.8m. The new money will go to the World Food Programme in Turkey and UNICEF in Syria.
• 1h ago (05:17 GMT)Dam collapse following earthquake floods village in Syria’s IdlibThe earthquake has brought misery of another kind to people in Syria’s Idlib province where a dam collapse caused a river to overflow its banks and flood homes, according to Al Jazeera’s Sohaib Al Khalaf.The earthquake and the flood waters from the Asi River (also known as the Orontes River) destroyed more than 20 houses in al-Tlul village and inundated many others, according to Al Khalaf.Families have been forced to leave the village, which like other towns and villages hosts a camp for displaced people on the Syrian-Turkish border, he said. The displaced people have also left the camp in search of higher ground.Throughout “history, people of this region have managed to use the waters of the Asi River for their benefit… but this time the earthquake was more powerful than them and led the water of the river to invade their houses,” Al Khalaf said.An aerial view of al-Tlul village flooded after a devastating earthquake destroyed a river dam near the Turkish border in Idlib province, Syria, on February 9, 2023 [Ghaith Alsayed/AP Photo]
• 2h ago (04:07 GMT)More money needed as people face ‘nightmare on nightmare’: GuterresUN chief Antonio Guterres is calling on the international community to provide more money for Turkey and Syria and widen access for aid to reach the earthquake-stricken parts of Syria.Guterres was speaking hours after the first UN aid convoy crossed into Syria from Turkey.“More help is on the way, but much more – much more – is needed,” the secretary general said.He said the UN would launch an international appeal next week for funding for the effort.“People are facing nightmare on top of nightmare,” Guterres added.People living in northwest Syria had already endured 12 years of civil war when the earthquake struck, with humanitarian aid delivered through only a single crossing from Turkey amid opposition from Russia, the main ally of the Syrian government, which wants aid to come through Damascus.Syria is under international sanctions but Guterres stressed they did not affect humanitarian assistance.“No sanctions of any kind interfere with relief to the population of Syria in the present,” he said.The first trucks carrying humanitarian aid into Syria at the Bab al Hawa border crossing between Turkey and Syria [Odai Alsatouf/Reuters] 
• 3h ago (03:12 GMT)US issues blanket licence to ease path of quake relief to SyriaThe US Treasury Department says it has issued a blanket licence for earthquake-related relief into Syria.“U.S. sanctions in Syria will not stand in the way of life-saving efforts for the Syrian people,’’ deputy Treasury secretary Wally Adeyemo said in a statement. “While U.S. sanctions programs already contain robust exemptions for humanitarian efforts, today Treasury is issuing a blanket General License to authorize earthquake relief efforts so that those providing assistance can focus on what’s needed most: saving lives and rebuilding.”The licence lasts for six months and expands on broad humanitarian authorisations already in place.
• 3h ago (02:48 GMT)Man rescued in Kahramanmaras after 96 hours under debrisSearch teams have pulled a young man from the rubble in hard-hit Kahramanmaras.Albert Sachma, who is 26, was rescued early on Friday morning, according to Al Jazeera’s Arabic channel.He had been trapped for some 96 hours in the collapsed building in the city’s Dolgaderoglu district.Sachma was taken to hospital.
• 4h ago (02:35 GMT)IRC’s Miliband says ‘desperate needs’ in northwestern SyriaDavid Miliband, the president of the International Rescue Committee (IRC), a US-based humanitarian aid organisation, has been speaking to Al Jazeera.He says that IRC staff on the ground have described the people of northwestern Syria as having “desperate needs” as a result of Monday’s earthquake.“It’s vital to attack the threats to life that come from the freezing cold, from the lack of medicines to treat illnesses and injury, from the lack of blankets and other essentials, but also to address the cash needs of people who’ve been left with virtually nothing as a result of this appalling tragedy,” Miliband said in an interview from New York.The former senior politician in Britain’s Labour party, noted any humanitarian response was also challenging because of the Syrian war, adding that the northwest had been bombed by Syrian government forces and their Russian allies as recently as last month.“We cannot rely on what is called cross-line delivery of aid – that means cross conflict lines from Damascus-held areas into the northwest of the country so we have to rely on cross-border aid from Turkey,” he said.A child is rescued from the rubble in Azmarin, near the Turkish border in Syria [White Helmets/Handout via Reuters]
• 5h ago (01:17 GMT)How to donate to Turkey, Syria earthquake responseIf you want to donate to earthquake relief efforts, charity groups and watchdogs advise taking the following steps.
  1. Research the charity to make sure they are reputable.
  2. Determine how effective the charity will be in responding to the crisis.
  3. Give cash, which offers chosen aid groups the most flexibility.
  Find out more about how to help here.
• 5h ago (01:17 GMT)Death toll in Turkey-Syria quake rises to 21,051The death toll from the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria has risen above 21,000.Hopes of finding people alive have dimmed and experts fear the toll could rise sharply.Here are the latest death tolls:Turkey: 17,674 peopleSyria: 3,377 people 
• 5h ago (01:16 GMT)Urgent need for food, clothes, shelter in quake-hit SyriaSave the Children says millions of children across northwestern Syria are in urgent need of food, shelter and warm clothes after Monday’s quake destroyed homes and key buildings.The United Kingdom-based children’s charity says it has started providing emergency food rations and tents in the area.“The situation across northwestern Syria is like no other crisis in the world right now. From losing family members to homes, to no food or clean water, the ripple effects of this disaster have affected every single child,” Kathryn Achilles, advocacy, media and communications director for Save the Children Syria said in a statement.Achilles added that the arrival of the first UN trucks was welcome but that the “supplies are only the tip of the iceberg of what’s required”.Save the Children is working with partner organisations in northwest Syria to ensure the temporary shelters, which have insulated floors, will keep people warm. They are also providing warm clothing for children such as wool hats.
• SOURCE: AL JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENC