At 4:17 a.m., while people slept in their beds, a devastating 7.7 magnitude earthquake struck southern Türkiye. A second quake, measuring 7.6, followed nine hours later. These powerful tremors, described as the “disaster of the century,” caused catastrophic destruction. More than 53,500 people lost their lives, over 107,000 were injured, and around 3 million were displaced from the affected regions to other parts of Türkiye. Within hours of the first earthquake, Serve On sent

Serve On’s small but highly skilled International Response Team was one of the first outside aid agencies on the ground, able to mobilise quickly while larger teams were still assembling their resources, unable to access the country because of the logistical chaos. 

The assessment confirmed the worst. A total 'pancake' collapse had flattened made the 12-story building, covering an area the size of a football field.

Rising water levels placed significant pressure on emergency services and local resilience networks as they worked tirelessly to protect residents and property.

Serve On was asked to deploy water rescue and community support assets across Cumbria and North Yorkshire – including in Tadcaster, where Tadcaster Bridge collapsed causing mass disruption.