Earthquake and wildfires have been reported within the last few days. On February 6, a powerful earthquake hit Gaziantep in south-eastern Türkiye, near the border with Syria, killing more than 100people in Türkiye and Syria;the death toll has been rising steadily as we are going to the Press. It was 7.8magnitude tremor that struck at 04:17 local time (01:17 GMT). The quake was felt in the capital Ankara and other Turkish cities, and also across the wider region. Ten cities namely Gaziantep, Kahramanmaras, Hatay, Osmaniye, Adiyaman, Malatya, Sanliurfa, Adana, Diyarbakir and Kilis were affected. The tremor was also felt in Syria, Lebanon and Cyprus. As many as 140 buildings have collapsed.
Türkiye lies in one of the world’s most active earthquake zones. In 1999, more than 17,000 people were killed after a powerful tremor rocked the north-west of the country.
On the other hand, at least 23 persons were killed and at least 979 people rendered injured by the raging fires, including 16 in serious condition, in Chile wildfires on February 4. Chile has declared state of emergency and firefighters are continuing to struggle to control dozens of raging wildfires. Chile extended an emergency declaration to yet another region amid a record-breaking heat wave. Over the past week, fires have reportedly burned through an area equivalent to what is usually burned in an entire year. There were 251 wildfires raging throughout Chile.
The Interior Minister of Chile Carolina Toha suggested the fires should serve as yet another wake-up call about the effects of climate change. “The evolution of climate change shows us again and again that this has a centrality and a capacity to cause an impact that we have to internalise much more. Chile is one of the countries with the highest vulnerability to climate change, and this isn’t theory but rather practical experience.”
Earthquakes, tsunamis, wildfires, floods, etc. are the Signs of Allah the Almighty. They invite man to reflect on the omnipotence of the Lord. The Qur’ān (27:93) says: “Say: ‘Praise be to God. He will show you His Signs and you will recognise them. Your Lord is not heedless of anything you do.’” The statement, ‘Your Lord is not heedless of anything you do’ is enough to show that the Lord is Ever-Seeing and Ever-Watching what and how we are doing on His earth. The Qur’ān (14:52) is more straightforward: “This is a communication to be transmitted to mankind so that they can be warned by it and so that they will know that He is One God and so that people of intelligence will pay heed.” Many other ayaat also invite people to ponder, for this act of reflection on one’s own physical structure, the world of nature spread over the universe as well as the verses of the Qur’ān can lead one to ultimate success.