Home ›› 13 Feb 2023 ›› Opinion
The number was first close to 3, 000, then the next day it rose to close to 6, 000, the same night it went up to 11, 000, then it crossed 12, 000 and now the number has already gone beyond 20, 000. Nobody yet knows the exact figure of how many people died on the border of Turkey and Syria in the earthquake that hit the region.
All hell loosed upon them as they were sleeping. They didn’t know even before they went to bed what was awaiting them. Columns of building came crumbling down upon them in no time as the earthquake, which registered a frightening 7.8 on the Richter scale, struck the region amid freezing cold. The part of Turkey where the earthquake hit is now lying in ruins and the other part of Syria is shattered. A big swath of land is now seems to be the testimony to a ruined and destroyed civilization.
The country will have to wait for ages to rebuild this entire region. The quake-hit areas are now a mountainous heap of rubble. It is heart-shattering for anyone to see a new-born baby still tied by her umbilical cord to her mother being pulled out of the rubble and debris alive. The child lost her entire family in the devastating earthquake on the border area of Turkey and Syria. Such harrowing and unbelievable tales are emerging one after another from the quake site.
One child was rescued after 17 days with people cheering up amid all those heart-breaking news. Two siblings were found pressed between two chunks of concrete slabs. The older one made a shield with one of her free hand over her sibling lying there almost three days. As they were rescued people cried in joy. They were smiling and cheering up with tears welling up in their eyes – a sight no one can forget. A father came out of the heap of debris literally howling hysterically for all her family members lost in the natural disaster. Many more such stories unsettled and unlevered us.
Most of these rescue operations were literally done with bare hands. Commoners proved that men cannot be defeated – a sense that inspired them to do the impossible while the government effort was so inadequate that family members of victims expressed their anger. Though the Turkish government declared a three-month emergency in 10 southern provinces and planned to open up hotels in the tourism hub of Antalya to the west to temporarily house people affected by the quake the rescue drive was inadequate.
The World Health Organization (WHO) warned that up to 23 million people might be affected by the massive quake. As for Syria it was geo-political reasons that prevented people from taking shelter and treatment as the quake struck such a region of northern Syria where an astonishing number of homes, hospitals and clinics had already been destroyed by bombardment by Syrian and Russian forces. According to the report, in the part of Syria where the quake struck 10 people are conducting rescue operations to pull out 400 to 500 people buried under the debris of each building. As if those people are not the citizens of Syria. No visible efforts have so far been seen to rescue those people. By the time 72 hours have passed and there is almost no possibility of finding anyone alive under the heap of debris.
People had to virtually spend frigid cold night on streets under the open sky. Under this situation WHO called upon the international community to come forward to help the survivors with humanitarian aids. At this moment when humanity needed to stand by the side of the victims no matter which country they belong to everyone and every country should extend their helping hands. Already over 70 countries went to join the rescue operation and aids to help the victim.
Bangladesh too joined with a 40-member rescue team to join the search and rescue operation in the earthquake-hit area. Not only that a 24-member rescue team from Bangladesh Army and 12 personnel from the Fire Service and Civil Defense will also accompany the team.
Earthquake is one of the natural disasters that sometimes claim lives of thousands of people. It is natural and happens more often in quake-prone countries. But more heart-rending fact is when the country concerned fails to carry out rescue operation as quickly as possible. After the 7.8-magnitude earthquake had struck the bordering area of Turkey and Syria no immediate effort was seen anywhere near the quake site.
The Turkish government of Recep Tayyip failed miserably to respond quickly to lessen people’s misery and sufferings. He conceded shortcomings after the criticism of his government’s response to the massive earthquake. But after conceding shortcomings he tried to cover up the government’s failure saying that for such a large-scale natural calamity prompt preparation to face it was almost impossible. Such excuses are repeated by almost all the governments around the globe when they fail to deliver.
Before saying so the government of Recep Tayyip should have had preparation for such calamity as the Turkey-Syria border is one of the world’s most active earthquake zone. In 1939 the country had to experience a 7.4 magnitude earthquake in which 33, 000 people died in the eastern Erzincan province. In 1999 the country had a record of 7.4 magnitude earthquake in which 17, 000 people lost their lives.
If the Turkish government had all of them in mind it should have prepared the country. If not, at least there should have been a preparation in place to face such natural disaster. Let alone preparedness even due to lack of heavy machinery rescuers found it difficult to dig hole into the collapsed building to save precious lives of people. With full knowledge of what might happen anytime in the area it was the government’s responsibility to take precautionary measures. If not, then why a government should be in place? Like most other countries the government is busy retaining its power and to do so it is even busier with suppressing the opposition. People’s lives matter to them very little or they are not concerned at all about them.
Experts say if a 7 magnitude earthquake ever hit the capital city of Dhaka the consequence will be devastating and it will kill around 3, 00,000 people. Does our government have any preparedness to face such a massive natural disaster? We have so far seen no such effort taken by the government. We should take the lesson from the Turkey-Syria earthquake. The sooner we do that the better way we can handle such a situation in future.
The writer is a journalist. He can be contacted at maksud.i.rahaman@gmail.com
