Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey’s president, said the country had been shaken by the “strongest disaster in a century”. Several things have conspired to make this quake especially damaging
. It flattened thousands of buildings, trapping their inhabitants in the rubble. Several aftershocks—one almost as violent as the initial quake—followed a few hours later. At the time of publication, more than 3,400 people had been reported dead, with many more injured. The numbers seem certain to rise. Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey’s president, said the country had been shaken by the “strongest disaster in a century”.
Turkey is an earthquake hotspot. Much of it sits on the Anatolian plate, a small block of crust squeezed between four other plates, including the Arabian plate to the south-east, which is pushing north-west, and the much larger Eurasian plate to the north, which is moving south-east . Earthquakes are common, though most happen along the North Anatolian fault, the boundary with the Eurasian plate, which runs close to Istanbul.
Factors above the ground have made things worse. The initial quake happened at night, when people were asleep indoors, leaving them little chance to escape. Winter cold will threaten the survival of those trapped under the rubble. In Syria, devastated by years of war, the authorities may struggle to organise an effective response.
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