Page 12 - Nadide Times 9

APRIL 2023 9th EDITION

THE SURVIVORS OF THE EARTHQUAKE

Emine Miray DİREN & Hira KAZAK (7th Hunters)

It has been a month since the devastating Another survivor notes: “It was so violent and it
earthquakes in Türkiye with officials putting the lasted so long. We have never seen such an
number of deaths in Türkiye at 45,968. Those who earthquake. I saw five buildings collapse at 50
survived face an uncertain future. One of their most meters. Many buildings have been demolished, but
serious problems is finding somewhere safe to live. many dead people have been taken out, as well as
At least 1.5 million people are now homeless, and the living. Elhamdulillah, there is needed help
it's unclear how long it will take to find them proper available in the city centers at the moment but I
shelter. But the most heartbreaking problem is how heard that there are some bad conditions in the
to get rid of the effect of the earthquake. Some villages.”
earthquake survivors talk about their experiences
during the earthquake and while talking about it
many times, it seems as if the fire in their heart
goes out a little.

Another survivor tells; “I had my equipment, but at
least 100 buildings were destroyed. Where to start
was difficult. Search and rescue efforts have
arrived in the early morning, but only a few teams.
Saying that many of my relatives are under the There were no tents or anything to eat or wear in
rubble, Şervan said, “Pazarcık is in very bad the beginning. It was raining on people because
condition. So I barely got myself and my family out there was no shelter. It was raining, there was no
of the building. “People are recovering but it will food, no drink, no heating but soon after AFAD and
take time” he says. other teams arrived to help us. It was like the end
of the world.”

“We were just coming out of the wreckage when we
saw a person reaching out through a small gap in
the wreckage. The building collapses on our friends
who tried to save him. Imagine seeing the whole
wreck collapses on our friends. They stayed there in
the debris, they had no chance of escape, and as
time went on, it collapsed on them completely.”