he United States has announced an initial $85 million package for emergency relief after a devastating earthquake in Turkey and Syria.
The US Agency for International Development said that the funding will go to partners on the ground “to deliver urgently needed aid for millions of people" including through food, shelter and emergency health services. The funding will also support emergency power generators, plus food and drinking water/sanitation systems to prevent the outbreak of disease, says USAID.
“We are proud to join the global efforts to help Turkey just as Turkey has so often contributed its own humanitarian rescue experts to so many other countries in the past"
State Department spokesman Ned Price told the media. Following the 7.8 magnitude earthquake there has been severe damage to roads and the local power infrastructure in the region with powerlines down and the grid has been affected by damage to substations, hydropower and solar facilities. Underground high-voltage cable links have also been damaged. Rescue teams and the military have been using portable generator sets to power lights and digging & detection equipment. Equipment and rescue teams have been sent from 17 nations including the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and The Netherlands.