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Relief
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By
Chris
Schreiber Turkey is still reeling in the aftermath of last month’s 7.4 magnitude earthquake that killed more than 15,000, and international relief efforts were further complicated by a powerful aftershock last week. The latest quake, measuring 5.8 on the Richter scale, was centered about 55 miles southeast of Istanbul in Izmit, the same northwestern town at the center of the Aug. 17 quake. At least three people died as a result of jumping out of buildings and at least 30 more were injured, according to the U.S. Agency for International Development’s Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance. Officials there said many people jumped because they feared they would be trapped in collapsed buildings, as thousands were after the first earthquake. The death and destruction from the Aug. 17 tremor are staggering. The Turkish government estimates that at least 15,135 people were killed and almost 24,000 were injured. Nearly 21,000 homes were destroyed, 53,000 were damaged, and up to 100,000 people were left homeless. Damage estimates run upwards of $25 billion, according to the Turkish government. Rebuilding will take years, but the deepest scars may be psychological.
Hard for victims, relief workers “It was very hard for us, very emotional to hear their stories,” said Stefaan Claus, a nurse from Gent, Belgium, who was part of a team of kidney specialists dispatched by Doctors Without Borders, an international medical relief agency. “It was a disaster. It was very hard psychologically. One woman of 40 arrived and asked us to let her die. Most of the patients were happy they were alive, even if they lost a leg or an arm. But it was very hard.” Claus was among 28 Doctors Without Borders volunteers who were in Turkey to treat “crush syndrome,” a common problem after internal and muscular injury that can lead to deadly levels of blood toxicity. Claus said he didn’t see the worst of the destruction, because he was treating patients who needed dialysis, which requires clean water lines. Those could only be found about 31 miles from Izmit, he said. Claus had only treated two patients with crush syndrome in 21 years as a nurse, but in the eight days he was in Turkey, he worked with 70 patients. The stories of survival were the most memorable part of the experience, he said. “To hear the stories, that patients could survive after two or three days, it was surprising,” he said. “There was a woman 25 years old who survived two days in the [wreckage]. She was blocked in a house with her little child of 8 months, who was dead near her. She lived two days next to her dead child.” Situation improving Reports indicate that the medical situation is now under control. American Red Cross spokesperson Darren Irby said more than $8 million has been raised for the areas hardest hit. The U.S. government has already sent close to $15 million in aid, and the International Monetary Fund has agreed to offer Turkey a $309 million emergency loan. Now that the situation has become more stable, relief organizations that flooded Turkey with personnel and equipment have begun to leave the country. U.S. Marines and sailors from the USS Kearsarge arrived on the scene soon after the first earthquake and distributed more than 6,000 tents, set up 10 tent sites, and provided medical care to residents of Gölcük, said Army Maj. Ed Loomis, public affairs officer for the military’s European command. Loomis said the Kearsarge left Sept. 10. “There are no more troops on the ground that are specifically working for earthquake relief,” Loomis said. “At this point, the relief efforts have been handed back over to civilian, nongovernmental organizations.” |
