Page 2 - Nadide Times 9

APRIL 2023 9th EDITION
THE MOST TERRIBLE DISASTER
OF THE LAST CENTURY
Ecem KARAMAN & Ecrin Naz ÖZKARAASLAN & Zülal YURTOĞLU
One of the most powerful earthquakes hit
Kahramanmaraş on Monday morning around 4
a.m. The magnitude of the earthquake was 7.8. A
series of aftershocks followed it, which were
severe and destructive. A magnitude 6.7
aftershock followed just 11 minutes later. But the
largest one, which measured 7.5 in magnitude,
struck about nine hours later. More than 125
aftershocks have followed.
Türkiye’s Interior Ministry declared the situation at
Level 4 which means the country is requesting
international help and assistance.
The government has ordered all its emergency and
aid organizations, including Türkiye's Disaster and
Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD), to
do everything possible in those areas. Volunteers
from all over the country also joined rescue and
volunteer organizations.
About 65 countries have offered help and sent
search and rescue teams to the devastated areas.
The Turkish army has created an airway corridor
for foreign flights and stopped civilian air travel to
the region.
Türkiye's President Recept Tayyip Erdoğan has
declared seven days of mourning following the
deadly earthquake and the Turkish flags flew at
half-mast.
More than 46.000 people have died and tens of
thousands were injured by the devastating
earthquakes that happened in Turkey.
The earthquake had great impact on 10 Anatolian
provinces that left massive destruction with the
death toll in the country. The provinces that are
greatly impacted by the earthquake are
Kahramanmaraş, Hatay, Adıyaman, Osmaniye,
Gaziantep, Şanlıurfa, Malatya, Diyarbakır, Adana,
Kilis, Elazığ. Now, let's find out what happened in
these provinces on the first day and night.
KAHRAMANMARAŞ
Since Kahramanmaraş was the center of the
earthquake, it was the most destructive. The
people whose houses did not collapse, escaped at
04.17 at night and were shocked to see that just a
few houses were standing. Screams and cries for
help were heard everywhere and people were
waiting for help during a very cold night. No one
knew what to do. Until morning, neither the
inhabitants of Kahramanmaraş nor the Turkish
people were aware of the results of the severe
earthquake. AFAD and other search and rescue
teams came. Most of the buildings that were not
destroyed at the first quake, were destroyed by the
second earthquake. Since the people were
outside, institutions such as AFAD and KIZILAY
set up tents and survivors stayed there. In the
morning, people began to be removed from the
rubble.
HATAY
Due to the roads being destroyed, the fire broke
out at the port, the beach impassable and the bad
weather; all the three modes of transportation were
blocked. As a result, search and rescue teams
went to Hatay later on. When they arrived to the
area they saw that it was a doomsday. Many
earthquake victims pulled their relatives out of the
rubble with their own means. Some of them
survived, but unfortunately most of them died or
were dead hours ago. The cold weather was also a
big problem as many people died of frostbite. The
anger and sadness of people in Hatay could be
seen clearly. In short, the first days in Hatay were
really heartbreaking.