Türkiye Emergency Response
Providing clean water access in the aftermath of the February, 2023 earthquake
On February 6, around 4:15 a.m. local time, a magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck south central Türkiye near the Türkiye/Syria border. Just 11 minutes later, it was followed by a magnitude 6.7 aftershock. The devastation wrought at least 48,448 deaths and 115,000 injured across the 11 provinces of Türkiye. At least 13.5 million people and 4 million buildings were affected. About 345,000 apartments were destroyed. Thousands were trapped under rubble when buildings collapsed.
“Hatay is one of the most severely affected provinces during the February 6 earthquake. But the havoc intensified on February 21 because of the aftershocks that once again terrified the residents. Many people have been affected and they are pleading for assistance with their basic needs, especially clean drinking water.”
Mehmet,
Camp Manager in Hatay Province
“We cannot sleep well at night because of fear and anxiety after what happened to our families. The lack of safe water aggreviates our predicament. Right now, we only rely on bottled water provided by the authorities intermittently, but what we need is a steady supply of drinking water to survive in this campsite.”
Hanefi,
Survivor from Adiyaman Province
Planet Water's Response
As soon as the scale of the event became clear, work to mobilize a response began. 16 AquaBlock emergency water systems were airlifted from Planet Water’s global logistics hub in Bangkok to Istanbul, from where they would be transported by road into the disaster zone.
Planet Water Foundation, with support from Xylem, coordinated with Turkish disaster management agency AFAD and the Red Crescent for swift customs clearances and transportation by road to the most severely affected provinces Adiyaman, Kahramanmaras and Hatay. Assistance and support from the army and water authority was also key in getting the AquaBlock systems setup in the evacuation camps where survivors had been relocated. In addition, the Planet Water Foundation team traveled into the country to provide support and to train representatives from some of these groups on the operations and maintenance of the systems.
Of the 16 AquaBlock systems deployed, the systems were positioned as follows: 4 systems in Adiyaman Province, 4 systems in Kahramanmaras Province, 8 systems in Hatay Province.
16 AquaBlock emergency water systems mobilized, with capacity to provide safe drinking water to 160,000 people
Learn More About Our Disaster Response Work
Planet Water Foundation’s AquaBlock Emergency Water System provides clean, safe drinking water access when needed most in the wake of emergencies and natural disasters.
