Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

News

Hard Numbers: Turkey-Syria earthquake devastation

Photo composite of devastation in Turkey and Syria.

Photo composite of devastation in Turkey and Syria.

Annie Gugliotta

The death toll from Monday's earthquake in Turkey and Syria has now surpassed 20,000. Want to donate to help people in need? Consider these worthy causes: Ahbap Platform, Turkey Mozaik Foundation, Doctors Without Borders, Save the Children, UNICEF, Red Cross.

16: That’s how many unaccompanied babies have been flown from the southern Turkish city of Kahramanmaras to Ankara, the capital, after being rescued from the rubble. Presumably, most – if not all – are now orphans.


5,000: Lorries carrying aid entered northwestern Syria from Turkey on Thursday for the first time since the 7.8-magnitude earthquake hit the region. Still, Syria expert Charles Lister says these trucks contain enough to help just 5,000 people – at most – out of the more than 4 million Syrians in the northwest in need of assistance.

36: The European Union has sent a large delegation to the hardest-hit areas in Turkey, but so far EU rescuers have had success in rescuing just 36 people. The delegation also brought along 70 pups to search for survivors.

3,000: Roughly 3,000 White Helmet volunteers – a group of first respondents activated during Syria’s civil war – are combing through the rubble to find survivors in opposition-held northwestern Syria, where the death toll has already reached 1,930.

More For You

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, with President of the European Council António Luís Santos da Costa, and President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen in New Delhi, India, on Jan. 27, 2026.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, with President of the European Council António Luís Santos da Costa, and President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, at Hyderabad House, in New Delhi, India, on Jan. 27, 2026.

DPR PMO/ANI Photo
On Tuesday, the world’s largest trading bloc and the world’s most populous country cinched a deal that will slash or reduce tariffs on the vast majority of the products they trade. If approved by the European Parliament and the Indian cabinet, the deal will cut duties on nearly 97% of EU exports to India, while the EU will grant preferential [...]
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer shakes hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing, China, on January 29, 2026.

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer shakes hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping, ahead of a bilateral meeting in Beijing, China, on January 29, 2026.

Carl Court/Pool via REUTERS
UK-China ties: warming up, or still lukewarm?This week, Prime Minister Keir Starmer became the first UK leader to visit China in eight years. His goal was clear: build closer trade ties with Beijing. After meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday, the two countries announced that China would grant visa-free travel for UK citizens for [...]
​Igmel Tamayo carries charcoal to sell on the side of a road for use as cooking fuel in homes, on the outskirts of Havana, Cuba, on January 12, 2026.

Igmel Tamayo carries charcoal to sell on the side of a road for use as cooking fuel in homes, after US President Donald Trump vowed to stop Venezuelan oil and money from reaching the island as Cubans brace for worsening fuel shortages amid regular power outages, on the outskirts of Havana, Cuba, on January 12, 2026.

REUTERS/Norlys Perez
15-20: The number of days before Cuba’s oil reserves run dry, according to the data firm Kpler, should it continue at current levels of demand and domestic production. This comes as Mexico, the largest supplier of crude to Cuba, has halted some oil exports to the island. Cuba’s economy is already deteriorating, but with Venezuela's oil supplies [...]
What to know about China’s military purges
Xi Jinping has spent three years gutting his own military leadership. Five of the seven members of the Central Military Commission – China's supreme military authority – have been purged since 2023, all of whom were handpicked by Xi himself back in 2022. But if anyone seemed safe from the carnage, it was Zhang Youxia.Zhang wasn't just China's most [...]