Earthquake in Turkey and Syria: Johanniter assessment team arived in the disaster area

9 February 2023

A five-person Johanniter assessment team has arrived in the earthquake zone. Together with local partner organisations, initial relief measures for the affected population are being implemented as quickly as possible.

From the Turkish city of Adana, which lies on the edge of the earthquake zone, Johanniter is now starting its fact-finding missions in Hatay province.

In addition to three employees from Germany, two international colleagues are strengthening the team. On site, they are now coordinating with local partners and the alliance partners of Aktion Deutschland Hilft. The first relief efforts have already begun.

For example, Johanniter partner organization MAPs has started distributing food in Gaziantep, Turkey, and Afrin, Syria. "Together with the assessment team, further emergency relief activities are now being prepared, for example, the distribution of building materials to make houses damaged by the earthquake habitable again, both in the affected areas in Turkey and in northern Syria, where the need is particularly great," said Florian Meyer, head of the assessment team.

Logistical hurdles

The relief effort is complicated by destroyed roads, the onset of winter and the sheer size of the earthquake zone. "The region affected by the earthquake has an area as large as Germany. That's why it's very important to coordinate aid well on the ground to get help to everyone as quickly as possible," says Magdalena Kilwing, head of operations in Berlin. "One bottleneck for aid from all over the world here is the airports, which are still badly affected by the earthquake," says Manfred Emmerling, head of logistics in foreign aid. "In Syria, there is also a shortage of aid supplies on the local market, and there are few border crossings through which to bring them into the country." Therefore, above all, functioning logistics will be crucial in the coming days to get supplies to the people.