Also in Lattakia the earthquake caused countless lives and immeasurable damage on buildings and infrastructure. As of February 24, 2023 the status and the reported damage in Lattakia is:

• 277,141 affected people
• 907 buildings are destroyed or need to be demolished.
• 14,080 buildings must be rehabilitated.
• 22,971 buildings were examined by engineering committees.

Emergency response teams have been engaged since the first hours of the earthquake and their relentless work has continued ever since. Government parties, NGOs and volunteer initiatives have been cooperating and coordinating their operations. Priority was given early on to:

• securing 23 shelters for families who lost their homes 
• reaching out to people outside the shelters - 90% of the total affected people in Lattakia -who are hosted by relatives and friends and providing them with the necessary supplies. 
• providing urgent medical and basic supplies such as medicine, water, food, clothing, blankets and cleaning supplies 

The work is still continuing through 45 organizations and mobile medical teams. Their focus is on:

• organizing and equipping shelter centers 
• establishing pre -fabricated housing units to host affected families 
• completing the technical examination of affected buildings to allow families to return to safe buildings. 108 engineering committees, consisting of 334 specialized engineers are active on the ground.

In order to accomplish the above work the emergency response teams are in need of:

• milk for children and personal hygiene products to maintain hygiene and prevent infectious diseases in shelter centers
• solar lighting devices for shelters in the absence of electricity and a lack of fuel
• spare parts for tools and machines to remove the rubble
• modern engineering devices for the safety examination of buildings.

Source: Lattakia Governorate Operations Committee Report issued on February 24, 2023

More Updates will be published later on the response in the other affected governorates.