Today, February 7th 2023, there have been quite a lot more earthquakes with a magnitude of 4.3 to 5.5 in the affected region. Just moment ago there has even been a new earthquake with a magnitude of 5.7. Buildings continue to collapse persistently. Much worse is the fact that the Atatürk dam in Turkey's south-east and the Midanki Lake dam in Afrin, northern Syria, are affected with cracks and fissures due to the multiple earthquakes.
Atatürk Dam is the main structure of the Southeast Anatolia GAP Project (Güneydou Anadolu Project), which aims to harness the water resources of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.
Currently, the GAP project consists of 13 dams, seven of which regulate water from the Euphrates and six from the Tigris. The Atatürk Dam is part of the Euphrates basin and forms the lake of the same name, the third largest in Turkey. The reservoir's area is 817 square kilometres, and its estimated water volume is 48.7 cubic kilometres.
Experts warn that both the Atarürk dam and the Midanki dam could break at any time and the resulting devastation could affect an area of 30 square kilometres near each dam.
They argue that if the international community does not intervene quickly, a tragedy many times worse than those caused by the earthquakes could occur.
In the surrounding areas, residents are currently being evacuated. This is already a good thing. However, if the dams break, the damage will be incalculable.
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