In the MD, VA, DC metropolitan area, the coverage on ABC, NBC, and CBS has been relatively short. THere has been reporting on local search and rescue groups and dogs heading for Turkey. There is a lot more coverage on BBC News, NPR; and other public radio sites.
It will certainly be interesting or sad to see what happens at the next new moon or full moon, since there certainly is a tendancy for bad quakes to occur around those times. Turky had serious quakes and deaths on the north border some years ago. The political implications for Turkey’s May elections will be affected.
The impact this will have on the Russia/Ukraine war is yet to be factored in. This would certainly be a good opportunity for Putin to save face by turning around and going home. THen he could offer big aid to Turkey and help Assad clean up the Syrian mess to distract from his disastrous war and look like a humanitarian hero.
Perhaps it is cruel wishful thinking, but what if Chine had a huge earthquake? In the past there have been urban quakes that have killed 100,000 and more people. Take China’s mind off of Taiwan for a while. Lost the mandate of heaven???
Many factors to consider as a result of this quake disaster.
Just the earthquake driven failure of the Three Gorges Dam would be horrific enough by itself.
On the BBC, they’ve showed a team of Ukrainians helping to dig people out of buildings.
Russia has also sent some responders, so it is quite an interesting situation for Turkey - NATO, Russia and Ukraine are all pitching in.
Domestically, I’d imagine Assad is going to have his hands full for some time because of this disaster. It’ll be interesting to see how it plays out geopolitically.
Putin has never been one to care much about the positive optics of putting Russkyi Mir at the forefront of humanitarian efforts even with his closest allies. The last time his government had an opportunity to do it, one moron said publicly “all our hopes lie in the famine”. Best hope that nobody in Turkey remembers that when food/water shortages start to hit the affected areas of Turkey.
NATO is far more likely to play the “hearts and minds” angle, as they’re hoping Assad will drop the idea of vetoing Sweden or Finland joining the organisation on the basis that he needs a far more immediate PR boost.
If Assad has his priorities right, the order of business will be: getting people out alive (especially if there are aftershocks), sorting out temporary accommodation, and then coming up with an earthquake-resistent reconstruction plan.