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Unfortunately, the photograph above is not of abandoned ruins, but collapsed buildings in Hatay, Turkey, following the devastating earthquakes of earlier today. The initial 7.8 magnitude quake struck at 04:17 am local time (0117 GMT) at a depth of about 11 miles, according to the U.S. geological survey. It was centered north of Gaziantep, Turkey, about 60 miles from the Syrian border with a population of about 2 million in the region. The quake was strong enough to be felt as far away as Egypt and Cyprus. The initial quake lasted about a minute, but there were some 40 aftershocks felt in the hours after, including one measuring 6.5.
Hours later, a second 7.5 magnitude earthquake struck the same area, but near the city of Kahramanmaraş, adding to the devastation.
Casualty figures are changing, but the most recent reports indicate approximately 3,000 dead in both Turkey and Syria. As an article at PJ Media points out, however, "the death toll is sure to drastically rise with 'tens of thousands of citizens… waiting under the rubble' in Hatay alone."
Terrible.
I guess that Uncle Sam will send more of our tax dollars to aid in rebuilding our questionable friend Turkey. It would be nice if, just for once, they'd fix the crumbling infrastructure and pothole strewn roads we have here.
ReplyDeleteIn the past, an Empire would conquer new territories to capture their wealth. Today, the Empire tries to figure out new ways to pillage its own people to support the outlying territories.
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