Over 25,000 Dead in Turkey Earthquake: "Worst Disaster in 100 Years"

Two More Members of Korean Emergency Relief Team Rescued... Total Now 8
Survival News Continues Despite Passing 72-Hour Golden Time

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo Byung-don] It has been six days since two powerful earthquakes measuring 7.8 and 7.5 struck T?rkiye (Turkey) and Syria, with the death toll surpassing 25,000.

The '72-hour golden time' has already passed, but on the 11th (local time), miraculous survival reports continued, and rescue personnel at the scene are putting all their efforts into saving even one more survivor. Residents in the affected areas claimed on local broadcasts that many survivors are still buried under the rubble and appealed for more rescue personnel to be deployed.

The rescue environment remains unfavorable. Foreign media reported that a lack of equipment and subzero temperatures are slowing down rescue operations.

Martin Griffiths, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, who visited the city of Kahramanmara? near the epicenter that day, told reporters, "This earthquake is the worst disaster in 100 years."

T?rkiye's Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) announced that the confirmed death toll had risen to 22,327. Combining the Syrian figures, the total earthquake death toll in both countries reached 25,880, far exceeding the 18,500 deaths from the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake.

AFAD stated that 121,128 rescue personnel, 12,244 vehicles including excavators and bulldozers, 150 aircraft, 22 ships, and 1,606 psychologists have been deployed to the earthquake-affected areas.

The Korean emergency relief team additionally rescued a 17-year-old male and a 51-year-old female in the Antakya area. So far, the Korean relief team has rescued eight people.

Meanwhile, the police announced that they had arrested 48 looters in eight provinces affected by the earthquake.

President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an of T?rkiye, visiting the earthquake damage site that day, emphasized, "Those involved in crimes such as looting or kidnapping must know that the state is watching their backs," and vowed to deal firmly with crime.

The worst earthquake even led to the opening of the border between T?rkiye and Armenia, which had been closed for over 100 years due to long-standing conflicts.

Serdar Kılı?, former Turkish ambassador to the United States, tweeted that "five trucks carrying 100 tons of food, medicine, and water passed through the Alican border point of Armenia" that day.

Humanitarian aid to Syria is also being carried out one after another. The Syrian Ministry of Transport announced that a total of 57 aircraft carrying relief supplies had arrived at Damascus International Airport as of that day.

The United Nations has identified that at least 870,000 people in T?rkiye and Syria urgently need food assistance due to food shortages.

In northwestern Syria, where the Syrian government forces and rebels are confronting each other and rescue efforts have been insufficient, 14 trucks loaded with UN relief supplies entered through the Bab al-Hawa land route.

The United Nations is discussing plans to open additional land routes crossing the T?rkiye-Syria border to facilitate smooth humanitarian aid.