Hospitals seek aid in Syria, Turkey after quake

The death toll from the earthquakes on the border of Syria and Turkey rose to 47,000 on Thursday. A 6.3 magnitude earthquake struck earlier this week and it’s been nearly three weeks since the first 7.8 magnitude quake struck. Raphael Pitti, the head of training at French nonprofit Mehad, said his organization needs equipment and other means to support the hospitals. Mehad was in Syria during the civil war and reopened its popup clinics after the earthquake. Most rescue crews have shifted to looking for bodies rather than survivors. 

Are they starting to rebuild? The quakes have at least moderately damaged more than 600,000 apartments and 150,000 commercial properties across the disaster zone, said Interior Minister of Turkey Suleyman Soylu. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has pledged to rebuild housing within one year and the central bank has cut interest rates to try to promote growth. Officials in the meantime are erecting tents and installing container homes.

Dig deeper: Read Sharon Dierberger and Onize Ohikere’s report in WORLD Magazine about regional aid.