The Lens: Turkey and Syria hit with devastating earthquake and tremors, killing thousands

A 7.8-magnitude earthquake followed by another strong tremor devastated wide regions of Turkey and Syria last Monday, killing and displacing thousands of people.

Across southern Turkey, people sought temporary shelter and food in the freezing winter weather and waited in anguish by piles of rubble where family and friends might still lie buried.

Rescuers were still finding some people alive. But many Turks have complained of a lack of equipment, expertise and support to rescue those trapped – sometimes even as they could hear cries for help.

“Where is the state? Where have they been for two days? We are begging them. Let us do it, we can get them out,” a woman named Sabiha Alinak said while standing near a snow-covered collapsed building in the city of Malatya, where her young relatives were trapped.

In the Turkish city of Antakya, dozens of bodies, some covered in blankets and sheets and others in body bags, were lined up on the ground outside a hospital.

Many bemoaned the lack of rescue teams. “We survived the earthquake, but we will die here due to hunger or cold,” one person said.

Many in the disaster zone slept in their cars or under blankets on the streets in the cold, fearful of going back into buildings shaken by the tremors – Turkey’s deadliest since 1999.

More than 298,000 people have been made homeless and 180 shelters for the displaced had been opened, Syrian state media reported.

Governments and humanitarian organisations have offered money, aid and support such as rescue teams, search dogs and medical personells for the people affected by the quakes.

Reuters and Yanni Chow

• How are countries around the world responding to the earthquakes?

• Can you think of any ways to contribute or help as a student?

Valerie Shek, Independent Schools Foundation

Two years have passed since military generals in Myanmar ended their country’s shaky attempt at democracy.

After five years of power-sharing under a military-created political system, the Southeast Asian country’s senior officials staged a coup against the old government in February 2021.

Myanmar has been in upheaval since the coup, which has kept its citizens in a constant state of fear and horror. Whole communities have been destroyed, women have been assaulted, and food supplies have been cut off in rural regions.

Civilian encampments in the area have been bombarded by fighter planes; for example, military jets attacked an open-air performance in Kachin State on October 23, killing at least 80 people.

In addition, as of December 2022, the junta has detained over 143 journalists and shut down independent news outlets.

At least 1.4 million people have been displaced since the coup, with many living in temporary camps in the forest.

Hundreds of thousands of refugees have fled to nations such as Thailand and India, where they are often mistreated. Thailand has driven back refugees who sought to cross the border, and Malaysia deported at least 150 people in October before the UN could determine whether they qualified for political asylum, triggering heavy criticism from many human rights organisations.

What’s happening in Myanmar is brutal, and the world shouldn’t look away.

Myanmar’s junta extends state of emergency, promises elections as people protest on anniversary of military coup