Feb 13, 2023
Updated 13 Feb: Today, international Christian relief organization Samaritan’s Purse accepted its first patients at the Emergency Field Hospital in Antakya, Turkey. Back-to-back earthquakes rocked the region last week, killing more than 36,000 people and leaving tens of thousands in desperate need of medical care. The Emergency Field Hospital was airlifted on Friday, along with critically needed supplies, such as hygiene kits, solar lights and shelter tarp to aid families in the hardest-hit areas.
The field hospital—equipped with 52 patient beds, a pharmacy and 2 operating rooms—is located in the parking lot of a 1,100-bed hospital, which is no longer functional due to the earthquake. Samaritan’s Purse doctors and nurses treated dozens of patients in the first hours of operation.
Update Feb 8: Samaritan’s Purse will deploy approximately 75 Disaster Assistance Response Team members and an Emergency Field Hospital—equipped with 52 patient beds, a pharmacy and 2 operating rooms—to Turkey along with critically needed supplies, such as food, hygiene and temporary housing items to aid families in the hardest-hit areas.
Feb 6: A devastating 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck in the early hours of Feb. 6 followed by a second powerful 7.5-magnitude temblor only hours later. The two quakes, along with at least 120 aftershocks, have caused massive destruction in Turkey and Syria, killing or wounding atleast 7,100 of people. The deadly seismic events could be felt as far away as Lebanon and Israel.
We are working through local partners on the ground to assess needs in the KahramanmaraĹź region of southern Turkey near the border with Syria. This is among the strongest earthquakes to strike this area in nearly a century.
We will update this article in the coming days as further information about our response becomes available. Please join us in praying for so many suffering families and for our teams and partners on the ground serving them in Jesus’ Name.
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