Turkey-Syria earthquakes: Treating thousands of injured people

MSF treated more than 200 patients in Idlib within the first hours of the first earthquakes. The teams activated an immediate response based on their emergency preparedness plan. MSF has increased bed capacity in our medical facilities by adding tents where needed.

Throughout the region, houses and buildings have been destroyed, leaving thousands of people homeless and without basic necessities like shelter, food, blankets, heating materials, and hygiene kits. Despite extremely cold weather, many people are sleeping outside or in their cars due to the fear of further aftershocks. In response, MSF teams are providing humanitarian aid to people who’ve been displaced, including distributing blankets, hygiene kits, and groceries to 2,500 families in the Jinderis area of Aleppo governorate. MSF has also started a mobile clinic in Idlib governorate and is offering support to ambulances to facilitate the transfer of patients in need of emergency medical care.

“The massive consequences of this disaster will require an equally massive international response,” Benoît said. “People urgently need shelter, food, blankets, clothes, heating materials, hygiene kits, and medical assistance—including access to mental health support.”

People in northwestern Syria have already been struggling to survive amid dire humanitarian conditions. Out of a population of 4 million in this region, approximately 2.8 million people were displaced before the earthquakes hit, many of them uprooted multiple times by the conflict.

“For Syrians living in the earthquake zone, this is a catastrophe layered on top of crisis after crisis,” Benoît said. “People have endured more than a decade of war, an economic crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic, and a recent cholera outbreak.”

In northwestern Syria, MSF already supports seven hospitals, including a burn unit, as well as 12 primary care centers, two chronic disease centers, and 11 mobile clinics working in camps for displaced people. In addition, MSF manages water and sanitation activities in more than 112 camps in Idlib and Afrin governorates. MSF is not yet operational in Türkiye but stands ready to provide assistance and mobilize an emergency response.