‘A crisis within multiple crises’

Catholic and other humanitarian agencies are calling the 7.8-magnitude earthquake that struck Feb. 6 and a second tremor hitting southern Turkey and northern Syria “tragic” and are appealing for aid.

They are assisting Syrians in the north of the country — people affected by more than a decade of civil war. “The situation in Aleppo is dangerous. Many buildings have fallen and digging continues relentlessly through the rubble. So far, we have lost 40 buildings which have collapsed in the earthquake,” Andrea Avveduto, communications chief for Pro Terra Sancta, told OSV News.

More than 5,100 were reported dead and thousands more injured and missing in Syria and Turkey as of Feb. 7. 

“We don’t yet have the entire situation clear because communication lines have been badly affected. Buildings are still falling down. They are already damaged by the war and so every time there are tremors, buildings collapse,” Avveduto said.

Pro Terra Sancta, based in Jerusalem and Milan, supports the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land. Since the start of the conflict, it has aided Franciscan fathers in Syria by opening four emergency centres in Damascus, Latakia, Aleppo, Knayeh and Yacoubieh, the latter places of which are found in northwest Syria.

In the region surrounding the northwestern city of Aleppo, “a lot of people fled their homes fearing more aftershocks and went to the Franciscan convent in Aleppo to shelter. They fear returning home,” Avveduto explained.

“We have more than 200 people in our Terra Sancta College seeking safety. We’re providing them with food and everything that they need. Now, it is very cold, they don’t have gas or electricity.”

Shocks from the earthquakes hit a number of cities in Syria, including Aleppo, Idlib, Homs, Hama and Latakia, also affecting internally displaced people across Syria’s north.

The earthquake hit as a winter storm was expected to engulf the northern Levant, making rescue efforts even more complicated. More than 45 countries have offered to assist Turkey, including Canada, the United States, Britain, France, Poland and Israel, but observers fear that Syria, under international sanctions due to the civil war, may see little international help.

Pro Terra Sancta, for several years, has endured difficulty getting aid into Syria due to the sanctions that forbid the transfer of funds into the country, particularly into the north, from Lebanon and Jordan.

Other Christian organizations operating in Aleppo report that many people are “traumatized and much damage is experienced throughout the city.” People in Afrin under rebel control have reported bad damage, deaths and injuries from the quake. 

“There are unconfirmed reports of several fatalities among Christian communities,” Joop Koopman, director of communications of Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) USA wrote in an e-mail received by OSV News.

At least one priest, Fr. Emad Daher, was killed when a building collapsed in Aleppo, Koopman confirmed. Another Christian man who was in the building, the residence of Archbishop Jean-Clement Jeanbart, also died. Melkite Emeritus Archbishop Jeanbart of Aleppo narrowly escaped death and is in the hospital.

Aid to the Church in Need also has received unconfirmed reports of deaths among Christian families in Aleppo and Latakia.