An earthquake is a natural disaster that causes from the shifting of tectonic plates in the Earth’s crust. Earthquakes shake the Earth’s surface and creates seismic waves which can be quite dangerous and impactful. A scale that represents the magnitude of an earthquake is the Richter scale, which scales from 1-9, 1 not being severe at all or sometimes not noticeable compared to 9, which is extremely dangerous and can destroy everything in its path.
Last week, on Monday, February 6, 2023, a massive 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck southeastern Turkey and northwestern Syria. This tremor was so severe that it reached neighboring countries such as Lebanon, Israel, and Greece. Just 9 hours after the first earthquake, another earthquake struck Turkey and Syria with a magnitude of 7.5. After these two major earthquakes, hundreds of smaller aftershocks occurred. These earthquakes have severely impacted and damaged Turkey and Syria. The infrastructure of Turkey and Syria is completely destroyed with thousands of collapsed buildings, furthering damages to Turkey and Syria and also increasing the death toll. As of yesterday, more than 33000 people have died and more than 200,000 people are under the rubble. To help Turkey and Syria, lots of support is needed especially international aid. Lots of funding is also necessary to host support services and rebuild infrastructure.
Another long lasting effect of these earthquakes is the effect on Turkey and Syria’s economy. Their economies were already on the brink of crisis and now this earthquake has destroyed tangible assets such as buildings and equipment, as well as human capital, and thereby deteriorate their production capacity.
A way public policy ties in with earthquakes and natural disasters is seen through the role of the government and international countries’ government as well. The governments’ main purpose is to protect the population it governs and provide support. The government is seen to be responsible to act upon the struggles that the population it governs faces. So, the government can work with other international governments to help fund and support those in Turkey, Syria, and any neighboring country impacted.
Overall, this is a devastating current event that has severely damaged and destroyed Turkey and Syria and needs to be effectively responded to with the help from the government. Without proper support, who knows how long it could take for Turkey and Syria to fully recover from this.
Ayan Kumar's Blog 