It’s cold, we don’t have food, we’re in dire straits

The 7.7 magnitude earthquake that struck Kahramanmaras this morning at 04:17 caused great and untold destruction in at least 10 cities. While citizens were unable to recover from the shock of the first earthquake, a second strong earthquake was felt in Kahramanmaras and the surrounding provinces at noon. Speaking to BBC Turkish from various quake-hit cities, quake survivors said it was the first time they had witnessed such a massive quake. Hundreds of buildings were reportedly destroyed in the Pazardzhik area of ​​Kahramanmarash, the epicenter of the earthquake, and many people died. Earthquake survivors told BBC Turkish about their hard times. What happened after the great catastrophe? What is the current situation? We are listening to news about Fundanur Ozturk from BBC Turkish.

How was the earthquake in Kahramanmaras reflected in the world press?

Veysel Shervan, Chairman of the Thermal Power Plant of the Pazardzhik region: “Pazardzhik is in a very bad situation. So I dragged myself and my family out of the building with difficulty. People carry out rescue work with their own means.

Echoes of a strong earthquake that occurred in the morning in Kahramanmaras continue! Veysel Shervan, Chairman of the Thermal Power Plant of the Pazardzhik region, said that at least 100 buildings in his region were demolished by his own decision. It was recorded that hundreds of buildings were destroyed in the Pazardzhik area of ​​Kahramanmaras, which was identified as the epicenter of the earthquake, and many people died. Saying that many of my relatives are under the rubble, Shervan said: “Pazardzhik is in a very bad condition. So I dragged myself and my family out of the building with difficulty. “People are saving on their own,” he said.

Sherwan said: “We were just getting out of the rubble when we saw a man reaching out through a small gap in the rubble. The building collapsed on top of our friend who was trying to save it. The one who tried to save him fell underground before my eyes. They remained, they have no chance of salvation, it collapsed on them completely. We are in a very difficult situation.” continued as. Stating that he saw five destroyed buildings in an area of ​​50 meters, Shervan stated that despite damage to the roads, access to the area is open.

Sherwan: “It was very intense and lasted a very long time. We have never seen such an earthquake. I saw five buildings collapse at a height of 50 meters. Many buildings are destroyed, but, fortunately, living people are also removed during the work. I have not had time to visit all the villages yet, but there is a lot of news about the wreckage in the villages. At least 100 buildings were destroyed in Pazardzhik, which I saw alone. Search and rescue work arrived only in the early morning. At the moment there are no tents or anything else. There are people outside, it’s raining, no food, no drink, no heating, I don’t know… Effective search and rescue operations have not yet been carried out.” used phrases.

Nilüfer Aslan, who said they could barely get out of the 5th floor in the center of Adana Yurt Mahallesi, said: “I have never seen anything like this in my life. We rocked for about 1 minute”

“Around us, 4 houses of 12-14 floors were demolished. I was on the fifth floor, I had never seen such an earthquake in my life. It was easy at first, then paused a bit, and then continued violently. I just wanted to save my son. I called my son in another room and he couldn’t figure out what was going on either. I said: “Mom, there is an earthquake, at least let’s die together in one place.” I said let’s die on the doorstep. It was the only thing that came to my mind. He went on and on and on, we stood at the door for a minute.” 5-10 minutes after leaving the building, strong tremors began, from which the car rocked. At the moment, we have gathered on the territory near the Chukurovskaya State Hospital. I couldn’t take anything with me, I’m standing on the street in slippers. We dare not enter the house again.”

Ozgul Konakci from Malatya: “Search and rescue work continues. It’s very cold and snowing right now. Everyone is on the streets, people don’t know what to do.”

After the great earthquake, the echoes of the catastrophe continue. As aftershocks continue, AFAD is warning citizens to stay away from buildings. Özgül Konakci, 25, who survived a 5-storey building in the Malatya Temelli area with her family, said her own building was damaged and 5 buildings around it were destroyed.

“Search and rescue work continues. It’s very cold and snowing right now. All on the streets, people confused what to do. Right in front of our eyes, the windows of the building exploded due to tremors. At the time of the earthquake, my brother and I were sleeping on the couch, looked at each other, said, are you shaking? I looked at the lamp, it looked like it was about to collapse. We ran out as soon as my three year old nephew was inside. Since the weather was cold, we took more care to put things for the children. We bought him something and quickly left. Where we are, there are no tents yet. We also felt a magnitude 6.8 quake in 2020, but that was very different. In this we heard the cracking of buildings, almost all the buildings already have cracks and damage.

Malatya Governor Hulusi Shaheen said 130 buildings in the city had been demolished, according to initial reports. It was also noted that there was heavy traffic in the city at this time. Konakchi explains the situation as follows: “Aftershocks affect us a lot. Transport in Malatya is very bad, and the roads are icy and there are too many cars. Everyone gets into their cars and tries to get away from the buildings. Because of the tremors, everyone thinks “the farther from the buildings, the better”, trying to get into the car and drive away from the buildings, which creates traffic on the roads.”

Gökçe Bay, who was admitted to Gaziantep State Hospital after kidney surgery: “I don’t remember how I got the serum from my hand”

Earthquake survivors who were caught in the quake at different points spoke about their scary moments. Gökçe Bay, who was caught in the quake while lying in Gaziantep Ersin Arslan State Hospital with serum in his hand after undergoing kidney surgery yesterday, explained that he was surprised that patients were hit by a major quake. While stating that all the patients started to run away with support from each other, Bay also stated that there were damage and collapses on some of the walls of the hospital:

“We were on the second floor when the earthquake happened. I had no pain, but they put a drip on my arm. I immediately got out of bed and called my cousin, I don’t remember how I got the serum out of my hand. We immediately ran. Everyone was holding on to each other. There is no such tremor. We thought we were going to die. We thought it would crash on us and we would stay there, we wouldn’t be able to get out. It was terrible. Everyone was crying on the street, our psychology broke down. I can’t describe it.”

Explaining that they had to run without even taking a coat, Mr. Bay said that although he had just come out of a kidney operation, he remained outside in wet slippers: “It’s very bad outside, it’s snowing, it’s cold. Inpatients, old people, patients in wheelchairs… They couldn’t get out. We somehow threw ourselves out, but our situation outside is not at all good. We are in a very difficult situation. The nurses immediately began to walk around the rooms, trying to gather people to wake everyone up. Everyone was in trouble. The nurses helped the rest, those who couldn’t get out. Currently, there are still nurses on the floors inside the hospital. They stand next to the sick, but the concussions are still going on.”

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