US announces $50 million in earthquake aid for Syria, Turkey
The funding announcement brings the total US contribution since the Feb. 6 disaster to $235 million.
WASHINGTON — The United States has announced $50 million in fresh funding for victims of last month’s powerful earthquakes that caused billions in damage to both Syria and Turkey.
An international donors conference in Brussels was held Monday, nearly six weeks after the 7.8- and 7.5-magnitude earthquakes struck, killing more than 52,000 people across southeastern Turkey and northwest Syria.
Donors pledged a combined $7.5 billion at the conference, which was co-hosted by the European Union and Sweden. The latest tranche of assistance from the US Agency for International Development brings the total US contribution since the Feb. 6 disaster to $235 million.
The earthquakes and their aftershocks destroyed or damaged some 298,000 buildings in 11 provinces across Turkey, where the government estimates the damage will cost $104 billion. More than 1.4 million earthquake survivors are residing in tents and around 34,000 others are in container homes, according to Turkey’s disaster management authority, AFAD.
