Adiyaman (Turkey): Thousands of people left homeless by a devastating earthquake that struck Turkey and Syria a week ago were huddled on Monday in overcrowded tents or queuing on the streets for hot meals while no one was alive. The desperate search had probably entered its final hours. A crew pulls a 4-year-old girl from the rubble in Adiyaman, buried under the rubble after a 7.8-magnitude earthquake. In nearby Hatay province, rescuers cheered and clapped as a 13-year-old boy, identified only by his first name Kan, was rescued 182 hours after the quake. Thousands of local and foreign crews, including Turkish coal miners and experts aided by sniffer dogs and thermal cameras, are scouring the pulverized apartment blocks for signs of life.
While stories of near-miraculous rescues have filled the airwaves in recent days – many broadcast on Turkish television and broadcast around the world – thousands have been found dead during the same period. Experts say with temperatures plunging to minus 6C – and the total collapse of so many buildings – the window for such a rescue has almost closed.
The earthquake and aftershocks, including a major aftershock nine hours after the initial quake, hit southeastern Turkey and northern Syria on 6 February, killing more than 35,000 people and destroying towns and cities inhabited by millions. reduced the entire swath to bits of concrete and bent metal. Senior UN officials admitted that help for earthquake victims in Syria was too slow, and Turkey offered on Monday a second border crossing to aid the international effort.
Losses include heritage sites in places such as Antioch on the southern coast of Turkey, an important ancient port and an early center of Christianity historically known as Antioch. Greek Orthodox churches in the region have launched donation drives to aid relief efforts and raise funds to eventually rebuild or repair the churches.
Almost no houses were left standing in Polat village, about 100 kilometers from the epicenter, where residents salvaged refrigerators, washing machines and other items from destroyed homes. Not enough tents have arrived for the homeless, said survivor Zahra Kurukafa, forcing families to share the available tents. “We sleep in the mud, with families of two, three, even four,” Kurukafa said.
Turkish officials said on Monday that more than 150,000 survivors had been taken to shelters outside the affected provinces. In the city of Adiyaman, Musa Bozkert waited for a vehicle to bring him and the others to western Turkey. “We are going away but we have no idea what will happen when we get there,” said the 25-year-old. “We don’t have a goal. Even if there was (a plan) what good would it be after this hour? I don’t have my father or my uncle anymore. What’s left of me?” But 55-year-old farmer Fuat Ekinci was reluctant to leave his home, saying he had nowhere else to live and needed to look after the fields.
Turkish volunteers have mobilized to help the millions of survivors, including a group of cooks and restaurant owners who served traditional meals such as bean and rice and lentil soup to the survivors, who gathered on the streets of the city of Adıyaman. were standing Other volunteers continued the rescue efforts.
As the scale of the disaster unfolds, grief and disbelief have turned to anger at the feeling that there has been an ineffective response to a historic disaster. That anger could be a problem for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who faces an uphill reelection fight in May.
While stories of near-miraculous rescues have filled the airwaves in recent days – many broadcast on Turkish television and broadcast around the world – thousands have been found dead during the same period. Experts say with temperatures plunging to minus 6C – and the total collapse of so many buildings – the window for such a rescue has almost closed.
The earthquake and aftershocks, including a major aftershock nine hours after the initial quake, hit southeastern Turkey and northern Syria on 6 February, killing more than 35,000 people and destroying towns and cities inhabited by millions. reduced the entire swath to bits of concrete and bent metal. Senior UN officials admitted that help for earthquake victims in Syria was too slow, and Turkey offered on Monday a second border crossing to aid the international effort.
Losses include heritage sites in places such as Antioch on the southern coast of Turkey, an important ancient port and an early center of Christianity historically known as Antioch. Greek Orthodox churches in the region have launched donation drives to aid relief efforts and raise funds to eventually rebuild or repair the churches.
Almost no houses were left standing in Polat village, about 100 kilometers from the epicenter, where residents salvaged refrigerators, washing machines and other items from destroyed homes. Not enough tents have arrived for the homeless, said survivor Zahra Kurukafa, forcing families to share the available tents. “We sleep in the mud, with families of two, three, even four,” Kurukafa said.
Turkish officials said on Monday that more than 150,000 survivors had been taken to shelters outside the affected provinces. In the city of Adiyaman, Musa Bozkert waited for a vehicle to bring him and the others to western Turkey. “We are going away but we have no idea what will happen when we get there,” said the 25-year-old. “We don’t have a goal. Even if there was (a plan) what good would it be after this hour? I don’t have my father or my uncle anymore. What’s left of me?” But 55-year-old farmer Fuat Ekinci was reluctant to leave his home, saying he had nowhere else to live and needed to look after the fields.
Turkish volunteers have mobilized to help the millions of survivors, including a group of cooks and restaurant owners who served traditional meals such as bean and rice and lentil soup to the survivors, who gathered on the streets of the city of Adıyaman. were standing Other volunteers continued the rescue efforts.
As the scale of the disaster unfolds, grief and disbelief have turned to anger at the feeling that there has been an ineffective response to a historic disaster. That anger could be a problem for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who faces an uphill reelection fight in May.