February 6, 2023 The Day The Earth Shook

The borderlands of Turkey and Syria:

It began with a distant rumble, then all hell broke loose. The ground moved and buildings swung, then collapsed. All through the region, structures shattered from years of civil war fell in a heap of rubble.

People fell under the rubble and died. It didn’t matter, friend or foe—Syrian or Turk. Death was everywhere.

And from under the rubble, they could hear the cries. The lost and the trapped plead for help. Help that is long in coming, if at all.

The death toll climbs.

Two massive earthquakes struck the war-torn northern area of Syria and the southern part of Turkey. Leaving devastation in their wake. In 1999 the same region was struck by an earthquake that left 18000 people dead. At this time there are at least 5000 people believed to have perished, but that toll could climb much higher. 

And I sit in the comfort of my home in Canada. Safe and warm in a world far away from suffering and devastation.

I have no true idea what it could be like to live in a place that has been destroyed by war for twelve years and then have the earth collapse under its feet. My heart goes out to those people living in the rubble and dying in the aftermath. 

Images on a screen barely convey the plight of the people on the other side of the world. Yet watching a building collapse gives me pause for thought.

I want to do something to help. 

But there isn’t much I can do from across the world. Living in Canada is like winning the lottery. The worst problem we have ever faced is the threat of a forest fire. A fire that would come with warning and plenty of resources for protection and recovery. The earthquake that struck came without warning, and the infrastructure in place is little to none, especially in war-torn Syria.

In North America, we can sit in our castles of concrete and steel. We watch the rich and famous prance around on our television sets and the biggest problem we have faced in the last eighty years was the pandemic. 

But still, people in North America complained about how bad they had it because they needed a vaccine passport to go into a restaurant. 

While the suffering in other parts of the world continues.

I want to do something to help those in need so I donated some of what little money I have. Maybe it’s to ease my conscience, but I want to do something. You can donate to help here.

I hope those who are lost can be found. Only time will tell the final toll of this tragic event.

*Update* 

As of February 8, the death toll sits at 11,000 and climbing

Latest update as of February 9 they now estimate 17,000 dead