2023 Turkey–Syria earthquake

On 6 February 2023 at 04:17 a.m. TRT (01:17 a.m. UTC) there was a very strong earthquake in Gaziantep Province in southeastern Turkey, west of the city of Gaziantep at 04:17 AM TRT. The maximum Mercalli intensity was XII (Extreme), and a magnitude of 7.8 was given. It was equal to the 7.8 magnitude 1939 Erzincan earthquake as the strongest recorded earthquake to hit Turkey in modern times. Only the 7.8-8.0 magnitude 1668 North Anatolia earthquake was more powerful.
It is the deadliest earthquake in the history of Turkey since the 1268 Cilicia earthquake, and has surpassed the 1939 Erzincan earthquake, which killed 32,700-32,968 people, as the deadliest earthquake of the Republic of Turkey, and it is the deadliest worldwide since the 2010 Haiti earthquake.
After the earthquake, there were several aftershocks. The strongest of them had a magnitude of 7.5 that occurred in Kahramanmaras.
Casualties
As of 18 February, more than 46,400 deaths have been reported in total; more than 40,600 in Turkey and more than 5,800 in Syria. Most of the aid effort focused on Turkey. There is a civil war in Syria, and accessing the areas affected is more difficult. For this reason, the numbers given for Syria are likely less accurate than those given for Turkey.
Damage
The earthquake is estimated to have caused US$84.1 billion worth of damage in Turkey alone, making it the fourth-costliest earthquake on record, and one of the costliest natural disasters ever recorded.
The Turkish government carried out a damage assessment of 763,000 buildings in 13 provinces affected by the earthquake. It was determined that 41,791 buildings collapsed or were badly damaged and are in urgent need of demolition.
Criticism of the government
Many people have criticized the government. Critics point out the following issues, amongst others:
Building safety standards in the region are poor.
Many of the older buildings collapsed, because poor quality building materials were used. Some of the newer buildings collapsed because there were flaws in the engineering.
After the 1999 Izmit earthquake, new standards were made. These standards dictate, that new building should be made to withstand earthquakes better.
The building codes were last updated in 2018. These codes now have requirements for engineering design and construction quality as well as material quality.
The problem is, that when a fee is paid, these standards are not checked. These "construction amnesties" have also been used to get around the checking if the building was different from the original plans; very often, extra floors are added. Up to 75.000 buildings in the earthquake zone have been given such amnesties. Turkish engineers had warned that cities could become 'graveyards' with building amnesty.
The funds that were meant to protect against natural disasters like this one were instead spent on highway construction projects managed by associates of Erdogan and his coalition government.
The military was deployed too late, only two days after the event; some say, too few people were deployed.
Notes
References
2023 in Syria
Syria earthquake
2023 Syria earthquake
2020s earthquakes in Asia
Disasters in Syria
2023 Syria
February 2023 events
2023 disasters in Asia
2023 earthquakes
Southeastern Anatolia Region