IDLIB: Search and rescue efforts are continuing in northwestern Syria, over 72 hours since an earthquake claimed the lives of over 1,900 people in the country, and left over 2,500 injured.
Experts expect these numbers to rise as hundreds of families remain missing under the rubble of toppled buildings.
One survivor from the city of Dana described to Arab News what he witnessed on Monday morning.
Mohamed Tata was woken by a rumbling sound and a powerful shake at 4:15 a.m. local time on Monday.
Moments later, he could hear a building falling. He was unsure whether it was the one he was in or the one next to it. It was only after the second shake that he rushed downstairs with his children.
“Are we shaking? Is the earth beneath us shaking? When we reached the street, we saw our neighbors and the buildings flattened to the ground. Men, women and kids crying and shouting. It was like a scene from doomsday” he told Arab News.
He recalled the screams of helpless children trapped underneath the rubble. “Heartbreaking, totally heartbreaking,” he said.
For some Syrians like Tata, the earthquake evoked a fear worse than that experienced during the 12-year civil war when cities and towns faced bombardment.
He told Arab News, “I went through the Aleppo bombing … Planes used to bomb and shells hit the buildings … But I never felt fear in this way.”
Tata is one of the millions of Syrians internally displaced by the war.
“We left Aleppo and our friends and relatives there and we came here and got to know new friends and relatives only to lose them again. They are gone” said Tata as he broke down in tears.
Over the last few days, survivor accounts have become an accurate mirror of Syria’s plight.
Yet to recover from the damages of the war, the natural tragedy has added a new layer of pain to a wound that has not fully healed.
Obada Zikra, a member of the Syrian Civil Defense team from the town of Harem, had been working since the early hours of Monday when the magnitude 7.8 quake first hit.
“A humanitarian catastrophe has occurred,” he told Arab News.
Time is ticking and the lack of advanced equipment and resources has complicated local rescue efforts.
“We are facing great difficulties with the use of heavy machinery due to the large geographical area that has been affected,” he continues.
Zikra told Arab News that over 400 buildings have toppled to the ground.
In a desperate attempt to save survivors, many civilians have volunteered to work around the clock, getting hands-on with the debris.
Local rescue teams and survivors have sent pleas for more help from foreign governments and organizations.
“We appeal to the international community and all humanitarian organizations capable of helping to continue providing assistance to the Syrians afflicted by this catastrophe”, Zikra said.
The disaster has only exacerbated pre-existing difficulties. Syria’s political position and divisions caused by the country’s 12-year conflict have made it extremely difficult for international support to pour in.
In the wake of the current crisis, it is nearby neighbors that have rushed to its assistance.
Saudi Arabia is one of the many Arab countries to have responded rapidly with quake relief. The UAE has also dispatched a rescue team to help with the search in addition to the aid pledged.
