Syria: One Earthquake Too Many

“That’s the last thing people needed here!” Jomah Al Qassim, a Syrian who volunteered to help his earthquake-stricken fellow citizens is still flabbergasted by what he describes as an “accumulation of crises.”

Because the earthquake struck a Syria that has been devastated by twelve years of civil war. Water and electricity cuts caused by the earthquake are commonplace in the territory. Health infrastructure was largely destroyed and the majority of health personnel fled the country.

Half of the Syrian population has had to flee their homes, a proportion unparalleled in the world since 1945, a large part of which survives in makeshift camps, infested with cholera.

Residents fear being left behind, because if more than 45 countries have offered to help neighboring Turkey, which is the focus of all the attention of the Western media, Syria, still under international sanctions decided by Washington and its satellites, has so far received only limited aid. Russia, the first, came to the aid of the victims by sending an initial contingent of 300 soldiers to the most affected areas.

Aleppo, Homs, Latakia, Hama… Towns disfigured by the earthquake, in which many Christians live, some of whom have already been found dead in the rubble: such as Fr. Emad Daher, who was killed during the collapse of his building in Aleppo. Msgr. Jean-Clement Jeanbart, Melkite Archbishop Emeritus of Aleppo, was found in time and taken to hospital.

There are also reports of damage to several churches: one held by the Franciscan monks in Latakia, and the Syriac St. George Orthodox cathedral in Aleppo.

“Here in Aleppo, the current Melkite archbishop, Msgr. Georges Masri, was extracted alive from the rubble, but his vicar is still under the destroyed building, and he has still not been found.” Msgr. Antoine Audo, Chaldean Catholic bishop who sees in the earthquake “a new terrible, deadly and unknown bomb, which falls on us.”

"We don't have the whole situation clear yet because the lines of communication have been badly affected. Buildings are still falling. They were already damaged by the war and therefore each time there are tremors, the buildings collapse,” says Andrea Avveduto, spokesperson for Pro Terra Sancta, an association supporting Eastern Christians.

And he adds: “Many people have fled their homes fearing further aftershocks and have taken refuge in the Franciscan convent in Aleppo for shelter. They are afraid to go home. We provide them with food and everything they need. Now it is very cold, they have no gas or electricity.”

Because time is against the rescuers: the earthquake was followed by a winter storm that has been hitting northern Syria for several hours, making the rescuers' efforts much more complicated.

Not to mention the political situation which also complicates everything: while the fighting has ceased for about three years in the north of the country, the territory is partly under the control of the Turkish army, partly under that of self-proclaimed warlords and jihadists from Hayat Tahrir al-Cham, the former Syrian branch of Al Qaeda.