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Background
A 6.6 magnitude earthquake struck the western province of Izmir, Turkey, on Friday, October 30 at 2:51 pm local time. The European-Mediterranean Seismological Center said the quake had an epicenter 13 kilometers northeast of the Greek island of Samos.
The earthquake was felt in provinces as far away as Istanbul, Bodrum, Muğla and Manisa. Shortly after the initial earthquake, the province was further rocked by 389 aftershocks, 33 of them more powerful than magnitude 4.0.
The earthquake has left serious damage to structures and infrastructure in different areas of the Bornova and Bayraklı regions of the city, prompting residents to flee into the streets in panic. At least 17 buildings were reported to have collapsed and several others were damaged.
The Authority for the Disaster Management Agency (AFAD) announced in the early hours of Saturday morning that the earthquake had claimed the lives of 25 people and left at least 831 injured.
Search and rescue operations have been completed on 9 buildings in Izmir, while work continues on another 8. So far, 70 people have been rescued from rubble in the Bayraklı district of Izmir, Turkey’s third largest city. by population.
Izmir Governor Yavuz Selim Kosger reported that there was a partial tsunami in the coastal district of Seferihisar, where at least one person was injured.
Response of the Turkish Red Crescent
The Turkish Red Crescent Society (TRC) has been on alert since the initial moments of the earthquake.
As an auxiliary to the Government, the CVR is responsible for providing massive food in the national contingency plan. With this in mind, the Turkish Red Crescent mobilized its capacity to serve 56,300 people simultaneously. This capacity includes five catering vehicles, five mobile / field kitchens, twenty-seven vehicles accompanied by 113 employees and 144 volunteers.
Response teams from the TRC Regional Disaster Management Center have distributed 22,458 cups of soup, 10,026 ready-to-eat meals, 7,168 hot drinks, 6,216 cold drinks and 19,497 bottled water in Bayraklı district, 10,000 cups of soup in Seferihisar and more than 8,115 cups of soup in the other districts of Izmir.
TRC has deployed PSP teams from its community centers in Izmir, Istanbul and Bursa to provide support to the affected population in affected areas. TRC Community Health Teams have been distributing 144,460 masks and 5,000 disinfectants to prevent the spread of covid- 19 in the affected region.
TRC’s Regional Disaster Management Center has sent 51 multipurpose tents, 2,049 family-type tents, 16,050 blankets, 6,888 mattresses, 1,256 heaters and 2,657 kitchen sets to the affected area.
For more information specifically related to this operation, please contact:
Alper Uluca, Director of International Programs and Operations Email: [email protected] Mobile: +905530357077
