Turkish Earthquake, Government Of Indonesia Efforts To Evacuate Indonesian Citizens From Earthquake-affected Areas

The impact of the Turkish earthquake in Diyarbakir. (Wikimedia Commons/VOA)

JAKARTA - The Indonesian government through the Indonesian Embassy in Ankara, Turkey and the Indonesian Embassy in Damascus continue to make efforts to ensure the safety of Indonesian citizens in the two countries, after the earthquake with a magnitude of M 7.8 that rocked Turkey on Monday.

"There are 10 Indonesian citizens who have been injured, four treatment at the hospital and six will be evacuated to Ankara," said Indonesian Foreign Ministry spokesman Teuku Faizasyah in a virtual press conference Tuesday, February 7.

Meanwhile, the Director of Protection for Indonesian Citizens at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Judha Nugraha said the government was trying to evacuate Indonesian citizens from locations severely affected in Turkey, because the residential buildings or apartments they lived in were destroyed by the earthquake.

"104 Indonesian citizens from five locations severely affected by the earthquake, including in Gaziantep and Kahramanmaragan, will be evacuated to Ankara because there is no proper place to live and this is winter," Judha said.

From Turkey, Indonesian Ambassador Lalu Muhamad Iqbal directly led the Indonesian Embassy team Ankara to the location affected by the earthquake.

He explained that the Indonesian Embassy team would be divided into four teams to evacuate Indonesian citizens in several locations.

"In Gaziantep, there are 40 Indonesian citizens who will be evacuated because they currently live in mosques and stadiums, then 40 people from Kahramanmara target who live in field tents, Diyarbakir there are 14 people who will be evacuated, in Adana there is 1 family who will be evacuated, the rest are in Hatay 9 people where three of them have broken bones, one of them is a fracture and we bring an ambulance because the hospital is full," he explained.

"The last two weeks have been extreme weather, snowstorms, the current weather is minus 7 degrees Celsius," he said.

"In principle, the sooner we return to the case, the better we will prepare a place at Wisma Duta to accommodate 110 people," he added.

"There are 6,500 Indonesian citizens in Turkey, about 500 of whom are in earthquake areas," said Ambassador Lalu via text message when confirmed separately.

Meanwhile, from Syria, Indonesian Ambassador to Syria, Wajid Fauzi, revealed that currently there are 1,557 Indonesian citizens in Syria, of which 500 are expected to be in areas affected by the earthquake.

"The Indonesian Embassy has sent a team to Aleppo and Hama to ensure whether or not Indonesian citizens are victims," he explained.

He said there were 116 Indonesian citizens in four areas who were severely affected, namely Aleppo, Latakia, Hama, Homs and Tartus.

"No Indonesian citizens in the conflict area are controlled by the opposition," he said.

Reportedly, the Indonesian Embassy (Syrias) contact team in Aleppo and Lattakia, since yesterday they have seen in the field and several hospitals, and reported that so far in Syria reports of victims of Indonesian citizens have not been obtained.

As previously reported, an earthquake measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale centered in KahramanmaraLE Province rocked Turkey on Monday, causing 10 provinces in the southeast of the country to be affected.

Gempa yang juga menimbulkan dampak kerusakan di Syria, dilaporkan Survei Geologi Denmark dan Greenland terasa hingga Greenland.