IB Classmate Shaken by Turkish Earthquake

Trigger Warning: Turkish Earthquake Aftermath, Descriptions of overhearing people losing family members and close friends, Falling Buildings, Photographs of Turkish Earthquake Aftermath.

It was 4:17 am on Monday 6th Feb morning when Elif (name changed for privacy reasons) was awoken by one of Turkey’s deadliest earthquakes since 1939 in her apartment in the Turkish city of Adana.

The earthquake was centered in Gaziantep, approximately 200 km from Adana, however, its tremors were felt throughout Southern Turkey and North-western Syria. Since Monday 6th February, the region has been hit by a series of powerful earthquakes which has resulted in a recorded death toll of up to 45,968 people (Reuters, March 2023), with many more feared to be trapped under fallen buildings. The most violent earthquake so far had a magnitude of 7.8.

She tells me more about what happened to her, and how it’s been affecting not only her family but the entire country. (NB: This interview took place the week of the earthquakes, so the information, such as death toll and the interviewees situation may have changed since then)

Where were you at the time of the first earthquake?

I was at home when the earthquake hit at around 4:17 am, and I was sleeping. I woke up to the sound of the chandeliers in my living room clinking, and I realized that we were having an earthquake. I went over to my parent’s bedroom to wake them up, so we could stand underneath a door frame, where it would be safest for us.

Since I live in an apartment with a cat, one of my first responses was to try and catch her and put her in her carrier so that we could get out, however, she was just as stressed as I was, and that really stressed me out more than anything else. I had to wait under the doorframe, but my cat was not approaching me, and that got me even more freaked out. Fortunately, I was luckily able to catch her and put her in her carrier eventually, so we could leave the house safely.

Once the most dangerous part of the earthquake passed by, we knew we had to get out of the house, meet up with all of our neighbors, and move to the biggest open area. All cities have a designated earthquake refuge location in case of emergencies, and our closest one was around five minutes away. So, we had to walk there in the middle of the night with all of our things and my cat. It was freezing, as it was 4:00 in the morning, with a temperature of around 7 degrees. Since Adana is a city with a very hot climate, it really felt like -5 degrees for us. The strong winds and the non-stop rain just added to all of the shocks that everyone was feeling. There were so many people out on the street with their cars, but thankfully we didn’t take our car, as the streets were completely blocked. Even the ambulances failed to reach where they were needed the most.

After we arrived at our designated safe spot, I started calling all of my friends, to check if they were okay. Most of them didn’t answer on the first couple of tries, which stressed me out a lot, but everyone has different reaction times to this crisis, a lot of them told me they were just sitting in shock and not really moving. Thankfully for me, my immediate friends are perfectly okay, and we are keeping in regular contact, every few hours or so, to check that we are still doing fine.

How have the recent earthquakes affected you, and the people around you?

I can say that I am one of the luckiest people. As of now, there are over 4,000 people dead and they’re still counting. There are people trapped under the buildings, who are yet to be accounted for. There are expected to be over 10,000 lives lost.

For me and my immediate family, only me, my Mum and my Dad live here in Adana where the earthquake hit. My Dad works at the city hospital where he is still working and has been working nonstop on emergency shifts since the earthquakes started. I am really thankful that my family is safe. When I saw others, such as my friends, and my parents’ clients, it became clear to me how these events have affected everyone. They were all trying really hard not to show it on their faces, holding back tears. It was an unfair experience for everyone.

As for being one of the lucky ones that got to survive and live in a building that wasn’t completely demolished, I would say that I am better off than a lot of other people. I did, however, have to leave my house, and it’s not safe for me to go back right now.

We are currently staying in an open area space around the hospital, in our car, which is where we are also sleeping.

I can’t emphasize how very lucky we are to have a car, as there are so many people that do not have this privilege. Last night, I didn’t get a wink of sleep, as there have been a series of earthquakes, that just keep coming and coming. The initial one was a 7.8 on the Richter Scale, the second one was 7.6 followed by a 6.1. Evidently, I didn’t feel comfortable enough to sleep. We were just trying to catch some rest, and close our eyes for at least five minutes but unfortunately, I didn’t sleep for the entirety of the night.

Can you describe the damage the earthquake has caused near you?

Our building still stands as it is only around 15 years old, which is considered young for an apartment. There was a construction site, right in front of our apartment building, only around 3 floors high or so, and I could tell that when I walked out of the house, it had been shaken up a lot. But because no one lived inside the site, it didn’t seem important at the time.

I learned later on in the news that a few apartment buildings that were around, five to ten minutes away from where I live were dropping down like dust. 17-floors, 16-floors, really big, tall apartment buildings with so many residents inside of them were crumbling to the floor, before my very own eyes. My Dad made sure to check the news before going anywhere without a car to be safe. So, I didn’t get much of an opportunity to stay near them, because it’s still very dangerous for us to be close to large buildings.

We were asked to leave it to professionals, as there was nothing that I could do specifically. I would just be hindering the rescue efforts by trying. I saw the reactions of people, of strangers around me, whilst they were on calls with their families and friends learning good news and bad news. And we could clearly tell the difference, because when it was bad news, everyone was screaming and crying which was very triggering, for me. Being an emotional person, I ended up crying alongside them.

Do you think this earthquake will change anything in your country?

Definitely, I don’t want to be political right now because this is a natural event. However, Turkey has not been doing well, politically, or economically on its own. This earthquake is being compared with an earthquake from 1939, that led to the loss of 33,000 people’s lives. Being compared to such a huge earthquake, we can already tell that economically, it is going to be devastating, and as for politically, I do know that our president has asked for help from international countries, such as Japan, America, Azerbaijan, and Israel.

A lot of different countries are sending help right now, which I am incredibly thankful for.

Something that really hits me hard is that the city I live in, Adana, is not where the earthquake hit the hardest. Southern Turkey is very antique, filled with ancient cities, museums, and old buildings. Knowing that people live inside these old buildings that could fall to the ground at any moment, fills me with worry.

I can say a couple of other cities like Kahramanmaraş, or Hatay, were hit way worse than Adana. I can’t even imagine what it would be like to live through those earthquakes there, after experiencing what I went through, and knowing that it’s much worse out there.

I don’t think I will ever be able to describe what this feels like not everything is comparable to other things, but we are just hoping to get better right now. The earthquakes are getting lower and lower in magnitude. I just don’t know when I will be able to go home yet. There are still a lot of people that are trapped under rubble, so the death toll will probably rise a lot, along with the number of injured.

I am at the city hospital right now, my Dad works there and my Mum is volunteering, and I am just alone in the car. I can imagine the chaos that is ensuing inside, with many children, whose parents have either died or whose parents haven’t been found yet. Most of them are also immigrants from Syria, and they don’t speak Turkish, only just Arabic, and it’s very hard to communicate with them, especially when they are injured.

Elif’s experience is only one among thousands of people living through these violent events in Turkey since February, so many more people have stories to tell about what is happening over there. The InterNews wants to report on events around the globe, if you have stories to tell about events happening near you, we’d love to hear your voice too.

References:

Cover Image taken by one of Elif’s friends in Turkey https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/turkeys-earthquake-death-toll-rose-45968-interior-minister-2023-03-04

Map: https://static.independent.co.uk/2023/02/06/14/Turkey%20earthquake%20map.jpg?quality=75&width=982&height=726&auto=webp