On 6 February 2023, a series of massive earthquakes struck south-eastern Turkey and northwest Syria. These and hundreds of aftershocks caused significant destruction on each side of the border, claiming thousands of lives across both countries and damaging essential infrastructure, including health facilities.
These have been some of the strongest earthquakes to hit the region in a century.
The devastating earthquake increased the suffering of the Syrians due to the civil war that has been going on for 12 years. Even the areas spared from the war were destroyed and many of their residents lost their lives and homes.
A Syrian woman stands inside her damaged house and looks at the rubble around her
A Syrian man stands on the rubble of a destroyed building after the devastating earthquake in Syria
A rescuer helps a man pulled from the rubble of a destroyed building to walk after the devastating earthquake struck Syria
A man carries a body of a child pulled out from the rubble of a destroyed building after the devastating earthquake in Syria
A bulldozer and rescuers try to extract people trapped under the rubble after the devastating earthquake that struck Syria
A rescuer carries a body of a child that was pulled out from the rubble after the devastating earthquake in Syria
People and rescuers gather at the rubble of a destroyed building in an attempt to help those trapped under the rubble
Syrian men carry a body wrapped in a blanket and pulled out from the rubble after the devastating earthquake in Syria
A man cries next to a body wrapped in a blanket and loaded into a truck filled with bodies pulled from the rubble after the devastating earthquake in Syria
A grieving man sits in a truck loaded with bodies pulled from the rubble and wrapped in blankets
A child who survived the earthquake and lost members of his family receives treatment after being injured
Syrians sit near destroyed buildings waiting for their relatives who were trapped under the rubble of destroyed homes in the Harem area to be brought out
