The aftershocks of the earthquake that struck the Turkish city of Kahramanmaraş are ongoing, as geologists predicted, and they could continue for a while.
The number of victims has risen to about 50,000 people, including about 10,000 Syrians, most of whom died under the rubble in cities where they had sought refuge, either in Turkey or the north-western regions of Syria outside of the control of the Assad regime.
Stories have emerged of survivors wishing they had perished with their families and of children orphaned in the blink of an eye, as well as thousands of people returning to shelters only to start waiting for tents to be donated to them. All other matters now seem mundane next to the devastation.
The word catastrophe cannot describe what's happening in Syria. Even though the earthquake lasted less than a minute, it was enough to turn the life of everyone upside down for many years to come. And the tragic scenes of the earthquake broadcast to the whole world may not be the last of their kind. Sometimes the aftershocks are just as terrible.
Since the first tremors, many long days have passed. Victims in the north-western regions of Syria have still not yet received any assistance. Acting as a de-facto arm of the state, the White Helmets volunteers there have been pleading with the world to send tools and equipment to remove the rubble and rescue whoever they can, but to no avail.
The excuse was that the earthquake destroyed access routes, but it has been possible to transfer of the bodies Syrian victims who died in Turkey to be buried in their home country, proving the journey can be made.
And Bashar al-Assad was able to get to Aleppo to inspect the damage, following an earlier visit by Commander Ismail Qani of the Quds Forces of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards.
Laughing joyfully, the Syrian president seemed unable to hide his happiness during the visit. This baffled some. His mirth makes sense, though, once we consider that the death of 10,000 Syrians cannot bring any grief to those who have killed hundreds of thousands more.
While in Aleppo, al-Assad rejoiced as he spoke to the commander in control on the ground, an Iran-affiliated Iraqi militia, telling him they had won together.
Propaganda campaigns called for lifting the siege on Syria, arguing that the sanctions prevented the Syrians from being recused. But the indisputable fact is that Syria is not besieged. It continues to trade with other countries.
It is the Syrians under the rubble in opposition-controlled areas who are surrounded, besieged by the regime and Russia. These two countries have prevented aid coming in anywhere except for the Bab al-Hawa crossing.
In the first days following the disaster help was not getting through even there -- Turkey was blocking it -- although Bab al-Hawa was in use for bodies to be transferred.
Reuters recently reported that Turkey was discussing reopening the crossing into Syria to send aid. After a more than ten-year break, the earthquake would not stand in the way of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's intention to normalise relations with al-Assad.
