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Magnitude 7.8 quake kills over 6,300 people in Turkey and Syria

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A look at the scientific breakthroughs changing the world, explorations in space and in worlds beyond our own and the threats posed to us by our own planet, both out of our control and of our own making.

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Rescue workers are in a "race against time" to find survivors trapped beneath the rubble of buildings that collapsed during Monday's deadly earthquake in Turkey and Syria. 

The big picture: Survivors and first responders described scenes of horror and shock as they attempted to dig through the debris to try to rescue those heard calling out beneath the rubble. 

Freezing winter weather, aftershocks and the sheer scale of the destruction were making rescue efforts even harder a day after the 7.8 magnitude quake killed thousands.

What they're saying: "Every minute, every hour that passes, the chances of finding survivors alive diminishes," World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned on Tuesday. 

"Numbers do not tell us about the perilous situation that many families now face, having lost everything, forced to sleep outside in the middle of winter," he added, not long before the death toll climbed to more than 5,000. 

Tedros noted how the damage to roads, power supplies, communications and other infrastructure was also hampering rescue efforts, especially in Syria, where a nearly 12-year civil war has destroyed large swaths of the country. "We are especially concerned about areas where we do not yet have information," he said. 

Survivors and family members of those affected cried out for help from overwhelmed first responders, who were racing to try to rescue anyone they could. 

Ali Silo, a Syrian man from Hama, told AP two of his family members in the Turkish town Nurdagi could not be saved. “We could hear their voices, they were calling for help,” he said. 

Deniz, a man in the Turkish border town of Hatay who was waiting for recuse workers said his mother and father were "calling out" but no help was there, per Reuters. "They're saying, 'Save us,' but we can't save them. How are we going to save them? "

Nurgul Atay told AP she could hear her elderly mother under the rubble of a toppled building. “If only we could lift the concrete slab we’d be able to reach her,” she said. “My mother is 70 years old, she won’t be able to withstand this for long.”

Amid the destruction, there were signs of hope. 

In northwest Syria, a young girl was pulled alive from the rubble of a toppled building on Monday, per AP. 

Two young children were recused from the rubble in Kahramanmaras, Turkey, the New York Times reported. 

A woman was recused from beneath the rubble after a recuse dog detected her in Gaziantep, AP reported, citing CNN Turk. 

But as more time goes by, the number of dead is expected to grow significantly. 

“The later people are found under the rubble, the worse the chances for survival get," Gerald Rockenschaub, a regional emergency director for the WHO's office in Europe, told the Times. He said the WHO expects the toll to rise by the thousands. 

Go deeper: For Syrians, quake is "another devastating blow"

Rescuers in "race against time" to find survivors of deadly quake

"They're saying, 'Save us,' but we can't save them. How are we going to save them? "

First responders carry a earthquake survivor rescued from the rubble of a collapsed building in Elazig, Turkey.

First responders carry a earthquake survivor rescued from the rubble of a collapsed building in Elazig, Turkey. Photo: Burak Kara/Getty Images

Syria

Stock market

Axios China

People in China are interpreting the Chinese spy balloon drama through the lens of alternative facts, propaganda, and censorship — underscoring how divergent information environments are deepening the chasm between the U.S. and China.

Why it matters: The balloon incident has genuinely alarmed a lot of Americans. Official Chinese statements about the nature of the airship make it harder for Chinese people to understand why Americans are reacting this way, and make the U.S. seem diplomatically unreliable.

What Washington is saying: Last week the U.S. Department of Defense said it had detected an “intelligence-gathering” airship floating over Montana and down through the continental U.S.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the balloon represented a “clear violation of U.S. sovereignty and international law” and postponed his planned trip to China over the weekend.

A U.S. fighter jet shot down the balloon on Saturday once it was over water and no longer posed a threat to people on the ground, the Pentagon said.

What Beijing is saying: China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the craft was a "civilian airship," not a surveillance airship, and denounced its downing as an "obvious overreaction and a serious violation of international practice."

The ministry warned China was "reserving the right to take further actions in response."

The big picture: Chinese high-altitude balloons have also been spotted near Taiwan, Japan, and India in the past couple of years, including over important air defense sites. Analysts say the balloons are part of China's so-called "lighter than air" surveillance balloon program.

The state of play: Online discussion in China, which is heavily censored by authorities, focused on the distinction between the terms "civilian airship" and "spy balloon," Whats On Weibo reported.

"On Chinese social media, the majority of commenters see the balloon as a weather device that went wandering and, unexpectedly, ended up measuring the temperature of Sino-American relations — which turned out to be icy cold," Manya Koetse, editor-in-chief of Whats On Weibo, wrote.

Flashback: The incident has parallels to the Hainan Island incident in 2001, in which a U.S. reconnaissance plane and Chinese jet fighter collided in air, resulting in the death of the Chinese pilot and the emergency landing of the U.S. plane on Chinese soil.

It was a major diplomatic crisis, as Chinese people felt outraged at the pilot's death and blamed the U.S. for sending a surveillance craft so close to Chinese territory.

Americans, on the other hand, blamed the Chinese aircraft, which was smaller and more nimble than the U.S. plane, for coming too close and causing the avoidable collision. The U.S. also had to orchestrate the release of more than 20 crew members, who had been detained and interrogated by Chinese authorities.

Then, as now, the people and the governments of both the U.S. and China blamed the other side for the sense of violation and injustice they felt. Careful diplomatic negotiations eventually resolved the dispute, but resentments lingered on both sides for years.

The bottom line: Distrust between two countries can greatly inflame tensions. Propaganda and censorship can make it worse.

Propaganda and censorship can make bilateral tensions worse.

Chinese spy balloon flies above in Charlotte, North Carolina, on February 4, 2023

The Chinese spy balloon. Photo: Peter Zay/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images.

The death toll from the massive earthquake and aftershocks that flattened buildings in parts of Turkey and Syria a day ago surpassed 6,300 on Tuesday. 

The big picture: Officials warned the death toll would likely rise, as rescue teams searched the rubble of buildings razed by the magnitude 7.8 quake that struck at 4:17am Monday local time (1:17 GMT) just north of Turkey's Gaziantep, near the Syrian border. Thousands of people were injured in the disaster.

A screenshot of earthquake damage in the southeastern city of Sanliurfa.

A screenshot of a tweet from the Metropolitan Municipality of Şanlıurfa showing the earthquake damage in the southeastern Turkish city. It says the city is in a "state of mobilization with all our operators, outreach teams, staff and volunteers." Photo: Metropolitan Municipality of Şanlıurfa/Twitter

Tremors were felt in Cyprus, Lebanon and Egypt.

A second earthquake of 7.5 magnitude struck around the same area Monday afternoon, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS).

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan declared a three-month state of emergency in the provinces hit by the earthquake.

Erdoğan said Tuesday that 70 countries had offered to assist in search and rescue operations and that the state of emergency would help ensure that the operations could be carried out as quickly as possible, Al Jazeera reported.

By the numbers: At least 4,544 people died in 10 of Turkey's provinces and 26,721 others were injured following the quake, according to the country's Disaster and Emergency Management Authority.

More than 8,000 people have been rescued from the debris in Turkey alone, and about 380,000 people have sought refuge in government shelters or hotels, Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay said Tuesday, AP reported. Still others have gathered in mosques, community centers, stadiums and shopping malls, among other places.

Syrian state media said at least 812 people were killed and over 1,449 others injured in government-held areas.

The Syrian Civil Defense, first responders also known as the White Helmets, said more than 1,020 people had died in opposition-held areas and more than 2,400 others were injured — bringing the country's death toll from the quake to 1,832 people, and the overall death toll to 6,376.

Of note: Gaziantep and its surrounding areas host hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees who have been displaced by nearly 12 years of war.

There were reports of tremors being particularly destructive in opposition-held areas of northwestern Syria, where millions of people displaced by the war live in densely populated towns. 

Zoom out: The earthquake revealed a "crisis within multiple crises" for a population already reeling from the effects of war, humanitarian groups are warning, Axios' Laurin-Whitney Gottbrath reports.

What they're saying: Erdoğan tweeted that the effects were "felt in many parts of our country" and search and rescue teams had been immediately dispatched to areas affected by the earthquake.

U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan said in an emailed statement the U.S. was "profoundly concerned" by reports of the destructive quake and stood "ready to provide any and all" assistance needed.

"President Biden has directed USAID and other federal government partners to assess U.S. response options to help those most affected," he said.

Biden said in a statement Monday that senior American officials had reached out to their Turkish counterparts to coordinate U.S. assistance, and that American-supported humanitarian partners were doing the same in Syria.

"Today, our hearts and our deepest condolences are with all those who have lost precious loved ones, those who are injured, and those who saw their homes and businesses destroyed," Biden added.

"It’s now a race against time. Every minute, every hour that passes, the chances of finding survivors alive diminishes," World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said of the search and rescue operations in a briefing Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu on Monday to express his condolences.

Blinken confirmed that the "initial assistance response" from the U.S. "was already underway," and he "pledged to do all that we can in coordination" with the Turkish government to assist the quake victims, per a readout.

In photos: Turkey and Syria respond to destructive earthquake

 Search and rescue operations continue around the wreckage, in Osmaniye, Turkey on February 7, following the quake.

Search and rescue operations in Osmaniye, Turkey, on Feb. 7 in response to the quake. Photo: Ozan Efeoglu/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

People injured in the earthquake in Hatay are taken to a ship to be transferred to Mersin, Turkey, on Feb. 7. 

People injured in the earthquake in Hatay are taken to a ship to be transferred to Mersin, Turkey, on Feb. 7. Photo: Murat Sengul/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

Rescue teams and residents of the region continue their search and rescue efforts in collapsed buildings, in Idlib, Syria after the quake

Residents join rescue teams to help in Idlib, Syria, after the quake on Feb. 6. Photo: Syrian Civil Defense/HAndout/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

Rescue workers attend the scene of a collapsed building on February 06, 2023 in Iskenderun Turkey. 

Rescue workers attend the scene of a collapsed building on Feb. 6 in Iskenderun, Turkey. Photo: Burak Kara/Getty Images

Aftermath showing ruined residential buildings following a 7.8 magnitude earthquake that occurred in the Pazarcık district of Kahramanmaraş on February 6.

The scene in Kahramanmaraş, Turkey, following the quake on Feb. 6. Photo: Ahmet Akpolat/via images via Getty Images

Search and rescue works continue after a 7.4 magnitude earthquake hit southern provinces of Turkiye, in Diyarbakir, Turkiye on February 6.

Search and rescue operations in Diyarbakir, Turkey, after a 7.8 magnitude earthquake hit the country's south on Feb. 6. Photo: Aydin Arik/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

 A view of destroyed building after earthquakes jolts Turkiye's provinces, on February 6, 2023 in Diyarbakir, Turkiye. 

A destroyed building in Diyarbakir, Turkey, on Feb. 6. Photo: Omer Yasin Ergin/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

A  destroyed apartment and damaged vehicle in Yurt neighborhood of Cukurova district after the earthquake on February 6, 2023 in Adana, Turkiye.

The scene in Adana, Turkey, on Feb. 6. Photo: Omer Yildiz/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

Syrian rescuers (White Helmets) and residents gather near a collapsed building following an earthquake, in the border town of Azaz in the rebel-held north of the Aleppo province, early on February 6.

Syrian rescuers (White Helmets) and residents gather near a collapsed building in the border town of Azaz in the rebel-held north of the Aleppo province on Feb. 6. Photo: Bakr Alkasem/AFP via Getty Images

A view of debris as rescue workers conduct search and rescue operations after the 7.4 magnitude earthquake hits Kahramanmaras, Turkiye on February 06.

Debris in the Turkish city of Kahramanmaraş on Feb. 6. Photo: 'Eren Bozkurt/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

Go deeper: For Syrians, quake is "another devastating blow" after nearly 12 years of war 

Editor's note: This article has been updated with additional details throughout.

Officials warned the death toll would likely rise, with many reported trapped beneath the rubble of razed buildings.

People walk through rubble after earthquake.

Syrian civilians and members of the White Helmets conduct search and rescue operations in the rubble of a collapsed building following a magnitude 7.8 earthquake that hit Syria. Photo: Anas Alkharboutli/dpa via Getty Images

Codebook

Axios Codebook

It's not just regulators and lawmakers struggling to make sense of cybersecurity concerns about TikTok — even your Codebook author can't figure out which are overhyped and which are valid. 

What's happening: It's now been about a month since I purchased a burner phone solely for TikTok. 

I've loved the app since 2019, when dancing to the Home Depot theme song was its biggest trend. From travel and meal-prepping tips to cat videos to absurd Gen Z trends, it's just a fun place to be.

I got the burner phone idea from veteran tech journalist Kara Swisher, who did the same thing nearly three years ago.

I always thought those hollering about TikTok's potential for abuse were either out of touch or overzealous China hawks. But TikTok parent company ByteDance's admission last year that it had tracked the location of U.S. journalists convinced me to rethink my use. 

Why it matters: TikTok reached 1 billion monthly active users in just five years, far more quickly than most U.S. social media apps, adding more urgency to U.S. officials' attempts to regulate the app.

And Pew Research estimates that about a quarter of U.S. adults under the age of 30 now get their news on TikTok. 

The big picture: TikTok comes with a unique set of regulatory considerations because of its China-based parent company. 

Companies in China are under different rules than U.S. ones and can be compelled to turn over user data without much recourse.

FBI director Christopher Wray said during a public event in December that the bureau is concerned the Chinese government could manipulate the TikTok algorithm, and "if they want to, to use it for influence operations."

TikTok has also reportedly censored videos that mention Tibetan independence, the Uyghur genocide and other videos. (A TikTok spokesperson attributed these reports to user violations of other content moderation policies and said anti-Chinese government arguments are still prominent on the app.) 

The other side: However, since I got my burner phone, several security experts have told me in private conversations that I probably overreacted. 

Keeping TikTok on my phone isn't much different from having any other mobile app with questionable practices on my phone, they argue. 

A prime example is Twitter: The platform has temporarily suspended some journalists who report negatively about the company, and some have expressed concern about Elon Musk having access to DMs. 

A TikTok spokesperson also told Axios that U.S. user data is currently accessible only by Oracle Cloud and the TikTok U.S. data security team, which will soon be spun out into its own subsidiary. 

State of play: Navigating TikTok's cybersecurity concerns hasn't been easy for anyone involved — even security officials. 

For three years, the federal government has been struggling to figure out whether security concerns about TikTok make it too dangerous to operate in the country — or if there's a way to protect U.S. user data.

Meanwhile, several states, universities and lawmakers have already jumped ahead and banned its use. 

Former Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency assistant director for cybersecurity Bryan Ware told Axios his own kids use the app. "My kids — oh, my god — would they revolt or change their citizenship to Canada [if TikTok got banned]," said Ware, the current CEO of LookingGlass Cyber Solutions.

Though he'd "personally like to see us not using TikTok." 

Reality check: If the Chinese government wants to spy on the U.S., it doesn't need TikTok to do so. 

Chinese state-sponsored hackers exploited flaws in Microsoft Exchange servers, affecting 30,000 U.S. organizations, just two years ago. 

The recent news cycle around the Chinese surveillance balloon drifting across U.S. airspace is just the latest example. 

Between the lines: The average TikToker (e.g., my 16-year-old sister) probably doesn't need to run out and get a burner phone — but journalists, human rights activists and political dissidents have different considerations. 

The bottom line: I'll probably keep my burner phone for now. 

If anything, having to power up a separate phone to watch short videos has helped me become more mindful of my usage, and that's always a good thing. 

Sign up for Axios’ cybersecurity newsletter Codebook here.

Trying to find a safe way to TikTok

It's now been about a month since I purchased a burner phone solely for TikTok.

Animated illustration of text-in-progress ellipsis made up of periods stylized like the TikTok logo. 

Cybersecurity

A California energy startup has turned more than a thousand electric vehicle (EV) batteries into solar power storage capsules, in an intriguing effort to prove out an alternative to traditional recycling.

Why it matters: Electric cars are cleaner than their gas-guzzling counterparts, but their batteries extract a significant ecological toll in the form of mining and manufacturing.

Repurposing old EV batteries can maximize their lifetime use, thus squeezing more benefit out of each battery made.

Energy storage, meanwhile, can help alleviate solar energy's intermittency problem — meaning, batteries can store solar power to be used when the sun isn't shining.

Driving the news: B2U Storage Solutions' Sierra facility has reached 25MWh of solar storage capacity using second-life EV batteries from Honda and Nissan, the company announced Tuesday.

During the day, the Lancaster, Calif. facility's batteries are charged up by nearby solar panels. The company then sells power back to the grid at night, when the rates for solar power are higher.

The facility generated more than $1 million in revenue last year, the company says.

The intrigue: B2U's big breakthrough is a proprietary plug-and-play technology that uses battery packs' existing management systems.

That, says co-founder and president Freeman Hall, "virtually eliminates the repurposing costs" and makes the company's tech "a very pragmatic operation as we go forward."

What they're saying: Repurposed EV batteries work well for solar storage, in part because the job is much less stressful compared to powering a car, says Hall.

"The current we're applying isn't even a tenth of what they're rated for, and we don't push them all the way to the top end or the bottom end in terms of their rated voltage levels."

That should translate into a long second lifespan. 

Reality check: 25MWh isn't huge — the world's biggest solar storage facilities advertise hundreds of MWh.

Yes, but: The point of B2U's Sierra facility is simply to demonstrate that second-life EV batteries can be used as solar storage at worthwhile scale.

"As we have that track record laid out over time, get that cycle history, get that dataset, demonstrate effectiveness, then we're in a better position to scale as the number of batteries going forward expands," Hall says.

Meanwhile: Battery recycling firms, such as Redwood Materials and Lithion, are also gaining steam.

What we're watching: Whether other use cases crop up.

Car manufacturers may explore similar technology to help decarbonize their production lines, while airports and airlines are also interested in small-scale onsite energy storage, as Axios' Joann Muller has reported.

What's next: As early EV owners upgrade to newer models, the available supply of used batteries is expected to skyrocket — and many could be turned into alternative energy storage solutions.

Go deeper: Energy storage is starting to rival new transmission

Electric car batteries get a second life storing solar power

A California startup has turned more than a thousand electric vehicle batteries into solar power storage.

B2U Storage Solutions' Sierra facility in Lancaster, Calif. Photo courtesy of B2U Storage Solutions

Solar power

Ominous forecasts about the impact of climate change serve as the backdrop for the world — led by U.S. lawmakers and companies — to debate big action on the problem, which could upend energy systems and our way of life.

Energy & Environment

Media Trends

Axios Media Trends

The sale of the National Enquirer, a storied gossip rag that became engulfed in scandals in recent years, represents the latest American tabloid giant to change hands as the era of print gossip fades away.

Why it matters: A small group of powerful voices has been replaced by hundreds of digital influencers and gossip sites that run the same rumors, often with even less accountability.

While many print tabloids run articles without bylines and using anonymous sources, it's still clear who owns most magazines. Online, even that small layer of accountability is often missing.

Be smart: With few exceptions, most major U.S. print tabloids failed to adjust to the digital era, so their audiences have aged with them. Left with smaller business prospects, many titles have been sold for a fraction of their former values to buyers eager to salvage what's left of once-powerful brands.

New York Daily News, once one of the most powerful tabloids in the country and one of the largest newspapers by circulation, was sold to Tribune Publishing (then called "Tronc") in 2017 for just $1. Its new owners cut the paper's newsroom in half the following year and shuttered its offices in 2020. It's now trying to make a local news comeback under hedge fund ownership.

The National Enquirer is being sold alongside its sister publications, the National Examiner and the Globe, in an all-cash transaction. While the transaction value was not made public, the three entities were set to be sold in 2019 for $100 million, before that deal fizzled, providing an idea about what they could be worth today. The Enquirer and its sister publication were sold to its former owners for $412 million in 1989.

The New York Sun folded in 2008 at the beginning of the collapse of the print industry, due to rising losses. It was sold in 2021 in a cash and stock deal to Dovid Efune, a top editor at a Jewish publication called The Algemeiner, who is now trying to revive the paper as a digital-only venture.

Between the lines: Other celebrity and gossip magazines have ceased printing altogether, but remain online.

OK! Magazine reportedly ended its weekly print circulation last year, after selling its website to Empire Media in 2021.

America's print tabloid era is over

A small group of powerful voices has been replaced by hundreds of digital influencers that run the same rumors.

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