The 2023 Turkey Syria Quake

The February 6th 2023 Earthquake that shook southern Turkey along its’ border with Syria is one of the most powerfull seismic events in recent memmory. At the time of this writing over 40,000 have been reported as having been killed. Far more were injured. The rather shallow depth quake, less than 20KM deep, was registered as a 7.8 Magnitude event. Much of this area is war torn and travel is difficult. The intial shaking was 21 miles west of Gaziantep.

A second 7.7 magnitude quake shook, as an aftershock, about just 9 hours later. This shaking occured 59 miles to the north / northeast. These were the largest quakes in Turkey since 1939.

The exact location of the 2023 Turkey Syria quake is known as a Triple Junction. This is where the African, Arabian, and Antalian plates come together. There have been over 2000 aftershocks that have followed.

Large earthquakes have occurred many times before in this area, including in 1822 and 1872. In 1268 AD an Earthquake called the Cilicia Quake is estimated to have killed over 60,000 people.

Currently this 2023 Turkey Syria Quake it is being reported as the deadliest quake since the 2010 Haiti Earthquake. The casualty count in believed to have been in the 100,000 to up to 300,000 death range. This is an estimated number by most accounts. That event was a 7.0 magnitude quake.

Some of the immediate blame for the widespread destruction and death is due to lax building and industry codes. Many of these building codes were not properly enforced. Numerous contractors and builders are being blamed and arrested. Additionally Syria is a war fragmented country where freedom of movement and travel are severily restricted. Turkey, although not technically at war, does at time deal with various armed insurrections.

Because both Turkey and Syria are mostly if not entirely Muslim countries, the Red Cresecent, not the Red Cross is responding to the crisis. Forbes Advisor is warning Americans to be on the lookout for fraudlent charities regarding this tragedy. In other words – careful how you donate money.

This earth shaking and destruction is large enough that the news meedia, CNN, ABC News, the New York Times, etc are doing a good job of covering the event. Therefore quake.cov will not write much about it. However the earthquake is a horrific reminder of the dangers of earthquakes.

Interestingly enough, NEVITA, a Turkish based real estate investment company, “Property owners in Turkey are required by law to purchase insurance against earthquakes…” This law applies to “all property owners, regardless of nationality.” Some Earthquake Insurance is provided through DASK. DASK is a”Foundation for Natural Disaster Insurance…founded by the Turkish government in 2012 [and is the] the entity to which earthquake insurance fees are paid in Turkey and which is administered by the Turkish Ministry of Finance.”

Lastly as a reminder to American consumers watching the death and damage in horror: Much of the damage is being attributed to both limited building codes AND poor adherance to those building codes. Simply put the building codes in exisitance are not as strong as many Western Codes and not enforced well. One report seemed to state/imply that some buildings were built with only concrete when steel and concrete would typically be required.

This article was published on Feb 15th, 2023 and may be updated at a later date.