Update: I’m on the road back to our home base after a day of reporting and will be answering questions on and off as internet access is available.

Last week two earthquakes—the first a magnitude 7.8 and the second a magnitude 7.5—hit Turkey along its shared border with Syria. The quakes, which rank among the deadliest of the 21st century, rocked an area around the city of Gaziantep that is home to millions of Turkish citizens, displaced Syrians and refugees.

Parts of cities were reduced to rubble and thousands of people were trapped under collapsed homes, apartment blocks and malls. Aid workers have poured into Turkey and northwest Syria from around the world. The death toll has passed 35,000 and teams are now focused on recovery.

In addition to the humanitarian disaster, there are political implications from the earthquakes.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who rose to power after the previous administration’s botched response to a 1999 disaster, is seeking to extend his more than 20 years in power in upcoming elections. He has declared a three-month state of emergency in 10 affected areas, which would last until national elections, which are expected in May and could cement his position as Turkey’s most powerful ruler in nearly a century.

I’m Jared Malsin, a Middle East correspondent for the Journal based in Istanbul covering Turkey, Syria and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. I’ve spent more than a decade living in and writing about the Middle East, including Turkey’s 2016 coup attempt and its aftermath.

Ask me anything.

PROOF: https://i.redd.it/i7waz52532ia1.jpg