Thousands have been killed in the 7.8 magnitude earthquake that struck Turkiye and Syria on Tuesday 6 February. Many others are still trapped under the rubble. Following the activation by Turkey of the EU Civil Protection Mechanism, 19 EU Member states (Austria. Bulgaria, Croatia. Cyprus, Czechia. Estonia, France. Germany. Greece. Hungary. Italy. Malta. Netherlands. Poland. Portugal. Romania. Slovakia. Slovenia. and Spain) have all offered teams to coordinate with the EU’s Emergency Response Coordination Centre.
25 search and rescue teams will be heading to Turkiye’s hardest-hit areas to assist the first responders. 11 of these teams are already in Turkiye. Two medical teams were also sent by the EU Civil Protection Mechanism to provide immediate healthcare for those affected. The European countries offered 1,185 rescuers as well as 79 search dog. These numbers could increase.
The EU Emergency Response Coordination Centre has also assembled an EU Civil Protection Team consisting of 11 experts from 11 member countries. They were immediately deployed to Turkiye in support of the operations.
The EU is in touch with its humanitarian partners in Syria and is funding humanitarian organizations that carry out search and rescue operations. They also provide water and sanitation support and distribute blankets and hygiene products in the affected areas. They are also looking at the extent of the damage to Syria and the needs in response.
The EU is looking at all options for deploying additional resources in Syria to support the affected population.
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