Following the devastating earthquakes in Turkey and Syria, the Turkish Culture Association and the Corvallis Multicultural Literacy Center will hold events on March 1 and March 8 to bring awareness and raise support.

The first event, organized by TCA members, will be held on March 1 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the Memorial Union on the Corvallis campus.Funds will be donated to the Association of Turkish Americans of Southern California’s Fundraising campaign to support Turkey. Many members of the TCA are from areas directly affected by the quakes.

The second event, sponsored by the Corvallis Multicultural Literacy Center and the Rotary Youth Exchange, is a cooking class to teach participants how to cook a traditional Turkish meal and educate viewers about the Republic of Turkey via Zoom at 6 p.m. on March 8. 

So far, just over $1,000 has been raised with suggested donations of $30. Funds will be donated to Turkey as well as the CMLC and RYE. 

The initial earthquakes measured magnitude 7.8 and 7.5 on the Richter scale – which measures the magnitude of an earthquake from 0-10 –  and took place within nine hours of each other on Feb. 6, and the most recent quake of 6.3 on the Richter scale shook the country on Feb. 20. 

The death-toll following the quakes is approaching 50,000 with many residents of affected areas still trapped or missing and over 300,000 buildings destroyed. 

More than 28 million people in Turkey and Syria have been impacted by the quakes.