About the earthquakes

At 4:17am on 6 February 2023, while people slept in their homes, a 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck parts of southern and central Türkiye and northern and western Syria. The damage was widespread and catastrophic, with countless apartment blocks, schools, hospitals, and office buildings collapsing. At midday, a second 7.5-magnitude earthquake struck, resulting in further damage, injury, and loss

The impact

• Over 55,000 people were killed
• Over 360,000 buildings were either destroyed or severely damaged
• 1.5 million people were left without a home

Tragically, over 55,000 people were killed, and it became the world’s deadliest seismic event in more than a decade. Over 17 million people were impacted by this disaster; left without loved ones, homes, and businesses. The scale of the crisis was immense and will require an ongoing, dedicated and coordinated response from local Red Cross Red Crescent teams, other humanitarian actors, and government bodies.

Australia’s generosity

We launched the Australian Red Cross Türkiye-Syria Earthquakes Appeal on 7 February 2023. We were overwhelmed with the generosity of Australian people and businesses who donated, shared the appeal on social media, ran fundraising events, and did all that they could to raise funds and awareness for this crisis. In just the first 48 hours, Australians donated over 1 million dollars to the appeal and ultimately, $6.8 million dollars was raised to support impacted communities in Türkiye and Syria.