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| Earthquake |
Earthquakes are a natural phenomenon that can cause immense destruction, but what is it exactly? An earthquake is a trembling or shaking of the ground that is caused by the breaking and shifting of rocks deep below the surface of the Earth. Earthquakes occur when two blocks of the Earth's crust suddenly slip past one another. The sudden release of energy causes the seismic waves that make the ground shake. Earthquakes occur most commonly along fault lines, the areas where two tectonic plates meet and rub against one another.
The largest earthquakes happen along subduction zones, which are the boundaries between two tectonic plates that are moving towards each other, usually when one plate is sliding underneath another. The magnitude of an earthquake is determined by measuring the seismic waves that it produces. The magnitude of an earthquake is usually expressed in terms of the Richter scale, which measures the energy released during an earthquake. The magnitude of the strongest earthquake ever to be recorded was a 9.5 magnitude earthquake
Earthquake hazards to humans
The primary hazard posed by earthquakes is the potential for destruction of buildings and infrastructure. An earthquake of a certain magnitude can cause buildings that are not properly designed or constructed to collapse, potentially resulting in death and serious injury. Earthquakes can also cause landslides, which can lead to flooding or further destruction.
Additionally, earthquakes can cause fires as a result of ruptured gas lines or other sources of ignition. In the aftermath of an earthquake, roads can become blocked due to debris, making it difficult for emergency vehicles to get to the affected area.
Earthquakes can also cause secondary hazards such as tsunamis and seiches. A tsunami is a large wave created by an underwater earthquake, and can cause widespread destruction and death when
The death toll from the devastating earthquake that struck large areas of Turkey and Syria has risen, exceeding 19,300 dead so far.
Hopes of finding survivors under the rubble are fading in extremely bad weather. Thousands of people in southern Turkey and northern Syria spent their third night in the open yesterday.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Thursday that 16,170 people were killed in his country, while the number of declared victims in Syria reached 3,162.
It was reported that the first aid convoys destined for opposition-held areas in northwestern Syria have already crossed into those areas from Turkey.
Aleppo is one of the areas most affected by the earthquake disaster
The earthquake, which measured 7.8 on the Richter seismic scale, hit the region at 04:17 am local time, while its epicenter was located at a depth of 17.9 kilometers below the surface of the earth in the Turkish city of Gaziantep. About 12 hours later, another quake - of about the same magnitude - hit the area 130 kilometers to the north.
Residents of the city of Aleppo told Reuters news agency that they had no shelter, either because their homes had collapsed or because they were afraid of more earthquakes.
A spokesman for the White Helmets rescue group described the city of Aleppo as a "stricken area", stressing that families were still trapped under the rubble.
A resident of the city of Jenderes in Aleppo told the French news agency that he lost 12 members of his family in the earthquake, while another said that his relatives were still trapped under the rubble.
He added, "We hear their voices, they are still alive, but we have no way, no rescuers, and no equipment to get them out."
In areas under government control, all emergency services have been sent to the area, including army forces and student volunteers. This is not enough to deal with the extent of the destruction, said Hisham Shawish, of the BBC Media Monitoring Department, who specializes in Middle East affairs.
The International Relief Committee, a charity whose staff on the ground in Syrian opposition-held areas now numbers 1,000, said it had already begun action to combat the first outbreak of cholera in a decade and was now bracing for a blizzard when the quake struck.
Bad weather, freezing temperatures and heavy rains hampered rescue efforts.
Mark Kay, WHO's Director of Care for the Middle East, described the situation as a "crisis within a crisis", stressing that large swathes of the region were inaccessible due to damage to communications networks after the earthquake.
How did Turkey's devastating earthquake change the geography of the world
In the geological repercussions of the eastern Mediterranean earthquake and the aftershocks that followed it, experts said that the disaster displaced Turkey and moved it to the west by three metres.
The earthquake in the eastern Mediterranean left major repercussions, some of which are clearly visible, such as the number of deaths and the massive destruction it left behind in Syria and Turkey. But there are other repercussions.
These repercussions are concentrated on the geological side, which is not easy to know except by experts. One of the most notable is the change that afflicts plate tectonics.
In the case of Turkey, geologists say, massive earthquakes pushed the country's plate three meters to the west.
All of this is based on raw data, and more accurate information from satellites will be available in the coming days.
Mental health support is essential to help those affected deal with the trauma
In the context of national efforts to promote mental health, it is essential to protect and promote everyone's psychological well-being, but also to meet the needs of people with mental health conditions.
This should be done within community mental health care, which is easier to access and accept than institutional care, and which helps prevent human rights violations and achieves better recovery outcomes for people with mental health conditions. Community mental health care should be provided through a network of interrelated services that include:
Mental health services that are integrated into general health care, usually in general hospitals and by sharing tasks with non-primary health care providers;
Community mental health services, which may include community mental health centers and teams, psychosocial rehabilitation, peer support services, and supported living services;
Services that provide mental health care within social services and in non-health settings, such as child protection services, school health services, and prison services.
The large gap in care for common mental health conditions such as depression and anxiety means that countries must find innovative ways to diversify and expand care for people with these conditions, for example through non-specialized psychological counseling or digital self-help.
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