Turkey/Syria earthquakes

[AgentMama]

I'm just heartbroken watching how fast the deathtoll is rising in Turkey and Syria. The news clips showing the buildings coming down look like a war zone. I hope they have some stabilization soon and are able to get to as many people as possible.

 

[georgina]

I'm expecting to hear Jose Andres will be heading there soon. Time to donate to WCK

 

[Dan Murphy]

It is so sad. Some of those buildings, looking substantial and not too old, just pancsked on down floor by floor. And the weather is not necessarily the best for recovery efforts.

 

[HeatherC]

It is absolutely heartbreaking and beyond devastating to see. I cannot fathom what soooo many are going through right now. They are saying because of the type of earthquake they could be feeling these strong after shocks for months.

 

[luvthatduke]

And 11 hours later there was another one, 6.something.
I can't find the link but people were milling about the streets
in another area (60 miles away from first one) and someone
filmed that quake in daylight with many large buildings just
collapsing around them.
All I could think of (and pray for) were the people IN those buildings.

I've seen videos of live selfies from people buried in the rubble
of collapsed buildings from the first quake.
I can't imagine their loved ones talking with them while they wait...

 

[MamaMermaid]

Horrifying and tragic. My heart breaks for them.

 

[BlueStarryHat]

It's absolutely awful news. I'm waiting to find out the best way to donate or help.

 

[Bianca and Bernard]

It's absolutely awful news. I'm waiting to find out the best way to donate or help.

We usually donate to WCK, like @georgina. It's a safe charity, where they actually help people, not putting a large amount of donations towards a CEO's salary (looking at you, Red Cross and Goodwill). Direct link to the charity here

Did y'all see a woman gave birth while buried in a building? She was able to pass the baby out, but mom died.

 

[BlueStarryHat]

We usually donate to WCK, like @georgina. It's a safe charity, where they actually help people, not putting a large amount of donations towards a CEO's salary (looking at you, Red Cross and Goodwill). Direct link to the charity here

Did y'all see a woman gave birth while buried in a building? She was able to pass the baby out, but mom died.

Thanks! I had already donated to World Central Kitchen. Good to know that it's as reputable as I suspected. I've been donating to them since the start of the Ukraine war.

 

[LuvOrlando]

Heartbreaking situation over there right now, seems it is below zero, people aren't allowed into unsafe buildings so a majority of people don't have shelter.

Sure is taking a long time for the world wide outpouring of assistance we see elsewhere to get to the people struggling.
The math doesn't seem enough
https://apnews.com/article/turkey-syria-earthquake-dispatching-aid-6648f53ed5f33371b253d077e85fc1c3

 

[luvthatduke]

My understanding is it's mainly politics holding up the aid.
Many countries arrived w/boots on the ground very quickly,
namely Israel & Hungary - I'm sure there were many others there a.s.a.p.
Ukraine even sent a contingent of responders, God bless them!
Samaratin's Purse had people there within 24 hours
and one of their field hospitals was quickly enroute.

Syria blocked travel into Turkey so there were virtually no
roads to get the aid through.
Also, three airports' runways were left unusable - I don't know if that's changed for the better.

Good explainer here but there are no maps so ignore the headline:
https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/five-maps-show-why-turkey-191221528.html

 

[White Cat]

Tragic. Tough to watch. I feel fortunate to be safe and sound.

 

[PollyannaMom]

Did y'all see a woman gave birth while buried in a building?

I did see that.

The news I've been watching has been doing a good job of covering the amazing rescues, in addition to the sad totals.

Ukraine even sent a contingent of responders, God bless them!

Wow! That is inspiring, and makes me want to help them even more as well.


Thank you all for the advice on charities. I was also wondering which was best to give to.

 

[LuvOrlando]

Everytime I look at images it's tough to reconcile we are in 2023, shouldn't the world be past selecting who is more or less worthy of humanitarian assistance based on the banners overheard? Who gets to pick anyway?

This sort of thing works under my skin like a splinter, incongruences get to me every time. Help is humanitarian or not. If it is humanitarian and there are humans then all else should be equal, the end. Basic 8th grade logic.

 

[Bianca and Bernard]

Everytime I look at images it's tough to reconcile we are in 2023, shouldn't the world be past selecting who is more or less worthy of humanitarian assistance based on the banners overheard? Who gets to pick anyway?

This sort of thing works under my skin like a splinter, incongruences get to me every time. Help is humanitarian or not. If it is humanitarian and there are humans then all else should be equal, the end. Basic 8th grade logic.

It's hard to get aid to people when there are no roads or train tracks or airports that are functioning, whether due to war or bad infrastructure or natural disasters.

It's hard to get aid to people when their borders are closed.

Or when they have rules about the people they allow into their country, or how they have to dress, or how/if they are allowed to practice their professions.

Or when the aid is sent, but it is taken by the military or the people in charge and not distributed to the ones that need it.

Or when there is only so much aid to be had, and it's got a lot of people needing it.

 

[luvthatduke]

Unfortunately this was reported today:

They didn't want to endanger their own people,
nor the people working around the Israeli's.

The Israeli teams were flown out on the private plane
of a Dr. there, as there were no planes for them to use.
This, after Russia called them immediately after the quake
to request Israel to send their people and aid to Syria, and they did.

https://worldisraelnews.com/verified-security-threat-israeli-rescue-mission-leaves-turkey-in-haste/

 

[Bianca and Bernard]

Unfortunately this was reported today:

They didn't want to endanger their own people,
nor the people working around the Israeli's.

The Israeli teams were flown out on the private plane
of a Dr. there, as there were no planes for them to use.
This, after Russia called them immediately after the quake
to request Israel to send their people and aid to Syria, and they did.

https://worldisraelnews.com/verified-security-threat-israeli-rescue-mission-leaves-turkey-in-haste/

This is just...I don't know...ridiculous is not the right word, but...

Humans suck.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Death toll is reportedly more than 36,000 now just unimaginable these high numbers

 

[luvthatduke]

UPDATE on Israeli Team:

There was some diplomacy happening when the
team landed back in Israel.
The Turkish ambassador to Israel welcomed them!

"Turkey’s Ambassador to Israel welcomed Israeli teams returning on Monday from a rescue mission following the devastating earthquake, and thanked the Jewish state for saving 19 Turkish lives."

https://worldisraelnews.com/turkey-thanks-israel-for-saving-turkish-lives-in-earthquake/

 

[LuvOrlando]

Hopefully this will move the needle for diplomacy and regional cooperation.