On 6 February 2023, a catastrophic Mw 7.8 earthquake struck southern Turkey and northern Syria, centered near Gaziantep, followed hours later by a Mw 7.7 tremor—the largest seismic event in Turkey since the 1939 Erzincan earthquake. Triggered by shallow strike-slip faulting along the Dead Sea Transform and East Anatolian Fault, the quakes were felt as far as Egypt and the Black Sea coast, generating over 30,000 aftershocks. The disaster affected an area roughly the size of Germany, impacting 14 million people and leaving 1.5 million homeless, with a confirmed death toll of 53,537 in Turkey and between 5,951 and 8,476 in Syria—making it the deadliest earthquake in Turkey since 526 AD and the deadliest worldwide since 2010. Rescue efforts involved over 60,000 local workers and 141,000 international personnel from 94 countries, though winter storms and damaged roads severely hampered operations. The economic damage was staggering, estimated at US$150 billion in Turkey (9% of its GDP) and US$9 billion in Syria (18% of its GDP), underscoring the unprecedented scale of destruction.