On 6 February 2023, the cities of Gaziantep and Kahramanmaraş were struck by two major earthquakes measuring 7.7 and 7.6 on the richter scale, 9 hours apart which caused widespread destruction in south eastern Turkey. Given the devastation caused, a state of emergency was declared in the affected cities, namely Adana, Adıyaman, Diyarbakır, Gaziantep, Hatay, Kilis, Malatya, Osmaniye and Şanlıurfa for three months starting from 8 February 2023.