We don’t see devastatingly large earthquakes as often as other natural disasters, but they tend to be extremely deadly when they do occur. In the world, we have only seen sixteen earthquakes at a 7 magnitude or higher in roughly one hundred and thirty years. Though that isn’t very common we have just witnessed one in Turkey that was measured on the magnitude scale as a 7.8 earthquake. What was so surprising was that this region had not seen an earthquake this large in over 200 years. This phenomenon occurred when the Arabian plate moved and slid northward grinding against the Anatolian plate causing not only the 7.8 but a second 7.5 magnitude shortly after. The last time anyone has seen these numbers in this area was in August of 1822 resulting in a 7.4, which is extremely less than what was recorded on Monday, February 6, 2023. The tremor struck eleven miles deep, with at least 120 aftershocks following the main hit. Only 2 weeks later another 6.3 magnitude strike caused more death and devastation. 

Obviously, this will take time to recover from but rescue workers are trying hard to help people trapped under rubble from the earthquake. Though no one knows how many lives were taken, the death toll is approximately 41,000 and climbing. On the flip side, around 150,000 survivors have been moved to shelters outside the affected areas as people are constantly being rescued. Officials are saying humanitarian agencies need upwards of 400 million dollars over the next three months. People are working extremely hard to fix the mess up and now all we can do is provide prayers and support.