A devastating earthquake struck near the Syrian border in southern Turkey.
To date, more than 35,000 people have died in both Turkey and Syria, and the number of affected people is said to reach approximately 26 million.
Looking at the map of this earthquake, we can see that similar devastating damage has occurred in multiple distant cities.
Little by little, I learned about the damage situation in Syria.
It has also been pointed out that it is difficult to provide support due to the civil war.
The epicenter of this earthquake is near the border between Turkey and Syria.
The map shows the hypocenters of earthquakes with a magnitude of 4 or higher that occurred during the two days from the 7th Japan time.
An earthquake of magnitude 7.8 occurred in the early morning of the 6th, and an earthquake of magnitude 7.5 occurred about nine hours later.
The size of the focal region is comparable to that of the Kanto region.
If you place a map of the Kanto region on the same scale next to it, you can clearly see that the epicenter area is extensive.
The map shows the towns that have been confirmed to have suffered significant damage from the earthquake.
Of these, Kahramanmaras (1) and Antakya (5), which are closest to the epicenter, are about 170 kilometers apart.
If you look at this distance on a map of Japan, it would be from Tokyo to the southern part of Fukushima Prefecture, or from Osaka to the area around Fukui City.
In a place this far away, there is damage that the building collapses in the same way.
We will take a closer look at the damage in various places from the video.
First is the Turkish side.
(1) Kahramanmaras Major damage
This is Kahramanmaras near the epicenter.
Many of the buildings have been demolished and nothing remains of what they used to be.
(2) Gaziantep The symbol of the city...
Gaziantep is about 70 kilometers southeast of Kahramanmaras.
In the center of the city, there is a castle built about 1,500 years ago that has become a symbol of the town, but the walls have collapsed.
(3) Nurdagi Crack confirmed to be an active fault
In Nurdagi, which is close to the epicenter, we were able to confirm cracks that appear to be part of an active fault that appeared on the ground surface.
The total length is estimated to be over 100 kilometers.
Professor Shinji Toda of Tohoku University, who is well versed in active faults, said, "The earthquake fault clearly appears on the ground. If you look at the road, it seems to move to the left from the fault, which matches the movement of the fault that has been observed so far. It's a target," he pointed out.
"Given the scale of this earthquake, it is possible that these surface faults were formed in a fairly long section," he said.
(4) Fire at Iskenderun Port
Iskenderun is one of the largest ports in Turkey.
Containers loaded in the port collapsed and a large-scale fire broke out, making it impossible for cargo ships to enter and leave the port.
On the 10th, the fire was almost extinguished and cargo ships began to enter and leave the port, but it is expected that it will take some time for logistics to return to normal.
(5) Antakya
This is a video of Antakya in Hatay province near the border with Syria.
In the area along the river in the center, the whole area was almost destroyed.
Numerous buildings that appeared to be apartment buildings had collapsed.
Devastating damage has also occurred on the Syrian side.
(6) Sarkhan
Footage taken in a village in northern Syria showed large areas of houses and roads submerged.
According to a resident, the Associated Press reported that the concrete of a dam in the north of the village broke on the 9th, allowing water from the dam to flow into the village and damage buildings.
(7) Idlib
You can see that the building is greatly broken in Idlib in the northwest.
In Idlib province, there are camps where people fleeing attacks by the Assad regime live in the ongoing civil war in Syria.
(8) Aleppo
Buildings in the northern city of Aleppo also collapsed, and debris removal work is underway.
Occurred in a "blank area" where no large earthquakes occurred for a long period of time
Experts have analyzed that this great earthquake occurred in a "blank area" where there have been no large earthquakes for a long time, even among the faults that are said to have moved this time.
This earthquake is thought to have been caused by the "East Anatolian Fault" that stretches in eastern Turkey.
However, according to Hiroe Miyake, an associate professor at the University of Tokyo's Earthquake Research Institute, the area near the epicenter of this earthquake has had no record of a major earthquake for more than 500 years since 1513.
It is said that there is a high possibility that such places called "blank areas" will occur because there have been no major earthquakes for many years, and several experts have pointed out even before this earthquake.
However, despite these indications locally, it seems that measures such as earthquake resistance of buildings have not progressed sufficiently.
I don't know the details of the situation in northwestern Syria.
Civil war has been going on in Syria for 10 years, and the areas affected by the major earthquake include areas under the control of the government and rebels.
According to the United Nations, more than 10 million people in Syria have been affected, accounting for half of the population.
However, in areas in northwestern Syria controlled by rebel groups, aid routes have been limited so far, so rescue and assistance have not been sufficiently delivered, and the detailed damage has continued to be unknown.
What we learned from the analysis of satellite images
Under these circumstances, the United Nations Satellite Center released the results of an analysis of satellite images taken on the 14th of the town of Janderes in the northwestern part of the country near the border with Turkey.
The image was taken on the 11th and shows large areas of the town of Janderes covered in red and yellow dots.
▼ The red dots are buildings that have been confirmed to have been damaged.
▼ The yellow dots indicate that there are 318 buildings that may have been damaged.
You can see that almost the entire town was hit by the earthquake.
In addition, satellite images comparing the town of Janderes before and after the earthquake by the American company Maxar Technologies, which operates artificial satellites, show the serious damage.
In an area of about 2 km square, you can see how buildings that were neatly lined up before the earthquake have collapsed everywhere, blocking the surrounding roads and spreading debris in all directions.
Also, after the earthquake, white tent-like structures can be seen lined up in areas that were flat before the earthquake, suggesting that they may have become evacuation sites for victims.
Assistance to Northwestern Syria Will Be Full-Scale in the Future
Until now, the United Nations support route from Turkey to Janderes and other areas in northwestern Syria has been limited to one location, but according to the United Nations, Syrian President Assad on the 13th will increase the number of routes by two for three months. It means that you have expressed
It is expected that full-scale assistance will be provided to victims of the disaster in northwestern Syria, who have been partially left out of international assistance.
“Assistance united by the international community”
Koichi Nakagawa, chief researcher at Mitsubishi Research Institute, who is familiar with the situation in the Middle East, said, "Syria is currently in a state of civil war and it is extremely difficult to provide unified support. Whether humanitarian aid is humanitarian aid, whether or not the international community can unite in solidarity apart from political speculation, and how to establish aid routes beyond the intricate areas of control, is just the future. We have to stick together," he said.