Millions of people were left homeless after earthquakes struck Turkey and Syria in February 2023.

Fashion

Millions of people were left homeless after earthquakes struck Turkey and Syria in February 2023.

A cascade of ruptures’ and a plan for relief

Turkey is known for its deadly earthquakes. The country sits at the junction of three major tectonic plates, with a fourth, smaller one squeezed between the others. (Scientists use the analogy of pinching a watermelon seed between your fingers and watching it squirt out.) Still, with a 7.8 magnitude, the quake, which occurred on 6 February 2023, was the strongest to hit the country in more than 80 years.

Its epicenter was near Kahramanmaraş in south central Turkey, near the border with Syria and about 75 miles from Adıyaman. What scientists called a “cascade of ruptures” tore along the East Anatolian Fault’s clamped rocks in both directions for a staggering 190 miles in total, shifting the earth more than 26 feet in some places. Nine hours later, a second quake, similar in size at 7.5 magnitude, struck north of the city in what seismologists call a “doublet,” compounding the damage.