Photo/Illutration Earthquake victims receive food from a member of the Turkish Red Crescent Society in Turkey. (Provided by the Japanese Red Cross Society)

The Japanese government and charities in the country are sending rescue teams and aid to quake-devastated areas of Turkey and Syria.

Tokyo said Feb. 7 it will soon dispatch a second rescue team comprising 55 members, including police officers, to Turkey.

Its first rescue team of 18 members was sent on Feb. 6, and Japan said it is ready to send more people upon request from Ankara.

The earthquakes struck on Feb. 6, causing widespread damage and thousands of deaths.

Japanese charities are sending teams to Turkey.

AAR Japan, a nonprofit organization, said two local staff members are now in Gaziantep in Turkey near the epicenter. They plan to provide food, medicine and blankets to people taking shelter in public facilities in the area, which is covered in snow.

The charity also provided aid to Turkey when a huge earthquake hit the country in 1999. Since 2012, AAR Japan has been helping Syrian refugees who fled to Turkey.

Peace Winds Japan (PWJ), a nongovernmental organization, said a team of five health care and rescue workers left Japan for Turkey on Feb. 6. They will be joined by two of their colleagues from Moldova, where they were helping Ukrainian refugees.

The NGO said it held a joint disaster drill with a local group in Turkey in summer 2022.

AAR and PWJ are also seeking to work in Syria with their partners in the war-torn country. They are concerned the quake and aftershocks may have damaged offices and warehouses for international charities in Gaziantep, which serves as a logistic hub to provide aid to Syrians who have lost their homes in the decade-long civil war.

“The earthquake has devastated Syrian refugees already hit hard by the civil war,” said Michiyo Adachi, the manager of IVY, an NPO that has been supporting Syrian refugees. “We plan to work with local partners to provide aid.”

The Japanese Red Cross Society announced Feb. 7 it would donate 20 million yen (about $152,000) to the local branch of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. It will also start an emergency fund-raising drive.

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