Earthquake in Syria Rapid assessment report- Latakia, Aleppo and Homs

The purpose of this report is to provide the findings of a rapid assessment which has been conducted in the immediate aftermath of the massive earthquakes that took place in Syria and Turkiye on Monday 6th February. A multisectoral team travelled to the affected areas (Latakia, Jableh, Aleppo and Hama) between the 7th and 12th February and collected information from UNRWA staff, beneficiaries, government and other stakeholder representatives.

In the early hours of Monday morning 6th February, two major earthquakes struck south-western Turkiye and northern Syria, with hundreds of subsequent aftershocks. These have resulted in extensive damage across the affected region with the death toll now exceeding over 40,000 and continuing to rise.

The earthquake has impacted thousands of Palestine refugees who are living in four camps that were directly impacted by the earthquakes and aftershocks in Aleppo, Latakia, and Hama. Whilst it is difficult at this stage to precisely establish the number of People in Need (PIN), over 500 houses to date have been confirmed as having been either partially, severely or completely destroyed, forcing hundreds of families to seek alternative accommodation, either in emergency collective shelters or with relatives. Accordingly, UNRWA's approach has been to consider all 12,847 families (43,044 individuals) that are living in the affected areas as having been impacted whether directly (through physical harm and displacement due to material damage to their buildings) or indirectly (due to loss of earning or the need to support affected relatives).