By Aeden Evenson-McDermott

In the early hours of February 6th, the 7.8 magnitude quake occurred making it one of the deadliest earthquakes in the history of the region, and worldwide, while being the deadliest in years since the 1939 one.

Many aftershocks occurred after, with the deadliest one to be a 7.5 magnitude aftershock. The main concern of this is that despite the damage already caused, the aftershock occurs with quite a large force which also cripples buildings and poses great structural damages.

With one of the deadliest quakes to strike, it posed many humanitarian calls for aid and support from around the world.

With the event occurring in southern Turkey and northern Syria, it decimated large cities and made matters worse with the countries already experiencing a refugee crisis. Furthermore, it was an overall wide ranging event that would lead to an all out search and rescue with teams scouring through the rubble for many hours.

As of February 24, the death toll neared 49,000 according to the United Nations. With much of city’s and town’s infrastructures destroyed, it left many homeless and exposed to the elements in the night time.

Much of the rescue operations resulted in many of thousands saved from being pulled from the rubble but it left many stranded and in the evenings, folks had bonfires in order to stay warm.

As the quake spanded 200 miles, the desperation was wide ranging with Turkey declaring a national emergency for the near future; the health care system is crippled and overwhelmed with the influx of patients receiving aid. Syria is currently grappling with the recurring civil war, divisions within territories, and tense relations between president Bashar Al-Assad and much of the West.

The United Nations’ Secretary General, led by António Guterres, proposed near $400 million in aid to help with the humanitarian crisis in Syria as well.

With much work to do in both countries, it will take awhile until cities can try to be rebuilt and aid comes more free flowing to help with the devastating crisis of circumstances.