Our Fragile Planet: 2023’s Wake-Up Call, Part 1 of 4

Early in the year, a devastating 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck Türkiye and Syria, claiming the lives of more than 50,000 people. There's a haze hanging over the earthquake zone made of broken buildings and torn roads, broken hearts, and torn lives. Repeated earthquakes have brought time to a standstill. Many now live in tent cities after losing their homes. Estimates from the United Nations Development Programme revealed that the damage resulting from this catastrophic event, the deadliest global disaster since 2010 and the most expensive in the modern history of earthquakes in Türkiye and Syria, surpasses US$100 billion. A month later, in South America, a powerful earthquake struck Ecuador's Pacific Coast and Northern Peru, causing widespread panic as people fled from collapsed buildings. Just a few months before these events, a 5.6-magnitude earthquake hit West Java, causing the collapse of schools and houses, and resulting in a death toll of at least 268, more than 1,000 injuries, and the displacement of 58,000 people.

This year, the strongest tremor to hit Morocco since 1900 devastated countless people’s lives in Marrakesh and in communities of the High Atlas Mountains. A series of earthquakes have struck Afghanistan in early October this year, compounding the suffering of a population already grappling with a severe humanitarian crisis. An official with the country's disaster management Ministry said the death toll from the quakes is already over 4,000 people. The majority of earthquakes are natural events, but human activities such as mining and oil and gas extraction can modify the stresses and strains within Earth's crust, potentially triggering earthquakes. During an earthquake, the underlying rock layers can shift or be displaced, altering the flow of water and sometimes leading to sinkholes. Two massive sinkholes suddenly emerged on the main thoroughfare of Villa Nueva, situated southwest of Guatemala’s capital Guatemala City, engulfing two cars and trapping six people. A giant sinkhole in West Virginia was about to swallow buildings and surrounding streets. All types of natural disasters are occurring more frequently nowadays. We pray to Heaven for everyone's safety.