Earthquake disaster and respiratory health: lessons from Turkey and Syria in 2023

On 6 February 2023, a strong earthquake of 7.8 magnitude (Mw) hit the Southeast provinces of Turkey and Northwestern territories of Syria at 04:17 h local time (figure 1). The first shake was followed by another with a similar scale of 7.5 Mw, with more than 11 000 aftershocks recorded in the following days [1, 2]: the most powerful earthquakes in Turkey since 1939 [3]! Earthquake is a risk factor for respiratory health