A look at the events surrounding the devastating earthquake that struck Türkiye and Syria a year ago

Istanbul – A year ago, a devastating 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck southern Turkey and northwestern Syria, causing widespread destruction and the loss of more than 59,000 people.

A massive rebuilding effort is still ongoing a year later, but many questions remain about the future of the devastated areas.

The February 6, 2023 earthquake occurred shortly after 4 a.m. and lasted for 85 seconds. This was followed by more than 570 aftershocks within 24 hours – including a 7.5 magnitude earthquake north of the original epicenter in Turkey's Kahramanmaras province.

According to the latest government figures released on Friday by Turkish Environment and Urbanization Minister Mehmet Ozaski, about 680,000 homes have collapsed or been left too damaged to live in, leaving hundreds of thousands in desperate need of shelter.

The disaster led to a massive international rescue and assistance operation in which dozens of countries and organizations participated. Early on, access to the worst-hit areas was difficult, forcing residents to grab what tools they could to dig through the rubble. Rescue efforts in both countries have been hampered by a lack of manpower and equipment. Damage to roads and airports, as well as bad weather conditions, also hampered the arrival of rescuers and aid.

In Syria's northwestern Idlib province, the White Helmets rescue organization blamed the international community for the delay, while the Turkish government faced criticism for its slow response, with many people waiting days for help.

Aid to Idlib, an opposition-controlled area, was initially limited to a single border crossing between Turkey and Syria, with the first post-earthquake aid shipment taking three days to reach survivors.

While television images of survivors being pulled from the rubble raised hopes, the death toll rose relentlessly. The Interior Ministry said on Friday that the final toll in Türkiye had reached 53,537 dead. The earthquake displaced about 3 million people, and 11 provinces in Turkey were declared emergency areas.

In Syria, the United Nations said that 6,000 people lost their lives, most of them in Idlib. Other estimates indicate that the number is higher. The earthquake came after more than a decade of civil war that caused severe damage to Syria's infrastructure. Some of the areas most affected by the earthquake were also those most affected by the conflict, including the city of Aleppo.

The World Bank estimated the resulting damage at about $34.2 billion in Turkey and $5.1 billion in Syria. However, the cost of rebuilding and its impact on the economy has been much greater – at least $100 billion in Turkey's case.

Turkey is intersected by fault lines, making it one of the world's most earthquake-prone countries. The rift system is located in eastern Anatolia, where the disaster occurred, near the meeting place of the Anatolian, Arabian and African tectonic plates.

The deadliest earthquake to hit Turkey in recent memory before last February was the 7.6 magnitude quake that struck south of Istanbul in 1999, killing an estimated 18,000 people.

In 2020, the country suffered several major earthquakes, including the last serious earthquake on the East Anatolia Fault – a 6.7-magnitude earthquake in the city of Elazig that killed 41 people.

The East Anatolian Fault last witnessed an earthquake of magnitude 7 or more in 1822, when at least 10,000 people were killed in Syria's Aleppo.

Turkey strengthened building codes after the 1999 Istanbul earthquake, but experts say lax enforcement, poor planning and alleged violations since then have made the 2023 disaster worse. The use of substandard materials and a lack of proper inspections during Turkey's building boom in recent years has also made Things are worse, according to experts.

In Hatay, the most affected province, many settlements have been built on risky alluvial land. In addition, government amnesties for shoddy construction allowed violators to pay fines rather than demolish or repair dangerous buildings.

The delay in the search and rescue operation also led to greater loss of life, according to critics.

In the weeks following the earthquake, humanitarian aid began flowing into Syria, and a UN appeal raised nearly $387 million in pledges.

But months later, as other crises emerged, Syria-related priorities appeared to have fallen by the wayside. To this day, humanitarian agencies struggle to bring the world's attention back to the war-torn country, facing donor fatigue and shrinking budgets.

Last June, the annual international donor conference held in Brussels for Syria saw lukewarm results, and the following month, the World Food Program announced that it would reduce its aid to the war-torn country. In January, the World Food Program ended its main food aid program for Syria.

In many places, rubble remains in place as people struggle to survive in tents and prefabricated containers a year after the quake. About 4 million people depend on humanitarian aid amid escalating violence in northern Syria.

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Associated Press writers Abby Sewell in Beirut and Susan Fraser in Ankara, Turkey, contributed to this report.

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