A total of 3,500 children lost either one or both parents in earthquakes that devastated several southeastern Turkish provinces in early February, the Hürriyet daily reported.
Thousands of children in Hatay, Kahramanmaraş and Adıyaman provinces were orphaned in the earthquakes, and 2,500 are currently staying with relatives in the region. Almost 1,000 children moved out of the affected provinces to live with relatives in other parts of the country.
Turkey’s most powerful earthquake in almost 100 years, which struck near the city of Gaziantep in the early hours of February 6, has so far claimed the lives of more than 50,000 people in Turkey in addition to injuring more than 100,000. Close to 220,000 disaster victims have been evacuated from the region to date, according to the latest official figures.
The 7.8-magnitude earthquake was followed by dozens of aftershocks, including a 7.5-magnitude temblor that jolted the region in the middle of search and rescue efforts the same day.
