Chicago area group raising funds for those displaced after Turkey earthquake

Thousands of buildings and homes are destroyed, leaving families sleeping on the streets in below-freezing conditions, with snow and freezing rain.

CHICAGO - Less than 24 hours after a 7.8 magnitude earthquake and dozens of aftershocks have rocked southeastern Turkey, a Chicago area group is raising funds for those who are displaced.

"The roads are all cracked, and it's winter. There is no way that they can reach out to people and save them. It's been 24 hours and there are still people under the collapsed buildings right now," said Ridvan Bolgi, the Kurdish Cultural Center of Illinois co-president.

Turkey is reporting it has only been able to contact 15 to 20 percent of the six-million people impacted by the quake.

Thousands of buildings and homes were destroyed, leaving families sleeping on the streets in below-freezing conditions, with snow and freezing rain.

"It's surprising the Turkish government hasn't declared it a state of emergency and used its army. [The] Turkish army is one of the biggest armies in NATO," said Bolgi.

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In addition to the U.S., Israel along with multiple European nations have vowed to send assistance.

"The president authorized an immediate U.S. response in addition to the U.S. personnel currently on the ground. We are in the process of deploying additional teams to support Turkish search and rescue efforts," said White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.

The Kurdish Center of Illinois is accepting donations through Paypal and Zelle, all of which they say will be sent to official disaster relief organizations in Turkey and Syria.

Donation information is listed below:

Zelle: info@kurdsofillinois.org

Paypal information: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=M3MHW4LLQBAZL