On February 6, 2023, two catastrophic earthquakes with magnitudes of 7.8 and 7.6 struck near the Türkiye-Syria border, affecting 11 Turkish provinces.
Download the report and summary
They were followed by more than 7,100 aftershocks and another earthquake of 6.4 magnitude in Hatay province on February 20, 2023. The earthquakes and aftershocks caused major damage and destruction in both countries. The earthquake occurred in geographic regions with significant internal displacement and refugees following the civil war in Syria
The ERC officially launched the Inter-Agency Humanitarian Evaluation (IAHE) of the collective response to the earthquakes in Türkiye and Syria on September 19, 2023.
Download: evaluation at a glance
The evaluation sought to:
- Assess the results achieved and outcomes generated by the collective response.
- Determine the extent to which IASC members’ collective response was relevant, appropriate, coherent, and effective in addressing humanitarian needs.
- Determine the extent to which IASC members’ collective preparedness efforts enabled them to address the humanitarian needs of the affected population.
- Determine the extent to which IASC members’ response was gender-responsive, by identifying, including, and addressing the needs and perspectives of women, girls, and the most vulnerable groups affected by the earthquake.
- Identify good practice and learning to illustrate how joint response mechanisms might be strengthened, specifically in the case of earthquake responses.
- Provide learning on the relevance and effectiveness of the Scale-Up Activation for the two responses in Türkiye and Syria and contribute to learning across different Scale-Up Activations.
Evaluations like this Inter‑Agency Humanitarian Evaluation are not merely technical exercises but vital tools for evidence‑based learning and accountability — to affected people, to donors, and to the States that entrust us with this responsibility.
– Tom Fletcher, Emergency Relief Coordinator for the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)
