'Tak, tak, tak…It sounded like a drill machine'. Survivors recount the horrors of Türkiye's devastating earthquakes
Elbistan, a town of 150,000 people in Türkiye’s Mediterranean province of Kahramanmaras, was the epicentre of one of Türkiye’s two devastating earthquakes. The first one hit the Pazarcik district in Kahramanmaras province with a magnitude of 7.7 at around midnight on Monday, followed by the second strike destroying Elbistan with a 7.6 magnitude in the afternoon.
Akkus recalls, "it lasted for a long time,” and added that he quickly grabbed his 5-year-old child and stumbled down the intensely shaking staircase. Seconds later, his wife and the other two kids managed to come out to safer ground as well. According to Akkus, one-third of buildings in Elbistan have collapsed. Bad winter conditions and the scale of damaged buildings and road networks have made search and rescue operations difficult, slowing them down. to the affected areas. More than 40 countries have also sent their rescue teams to extract survivors from debris. Sahin, his wife and their two kids ran out of their house after the first quake, taking shelter at their relative's house, which is earthquake resistant.
Seref Kocakaya, a 65-year-old public employee from Kahramanmaras in Adana, one of Türkiye’s major cities that experienced a deadly earthquake in 1998, described the tremors with similar details as Akkus did.During the first early morning tremor, Kocakaya and his family made it out alive. Their one-story house remained intact despite the second earthquake and aftershocks.
There were some other survivor stories from Adana. “A child, who was at a toilet during the earthquake, hollered at his mom asking her to run away from home. He ran after her without his pants on,” explains Kocakaya. Despite difficult conditions under diminishing winter temperatures, Turkish rescue teams and civilian groups are trying to do their best to reach survivors across the country's quake-hit southeastern and Mediterranean provinces.
Canada Latest News, Canada Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Mayo-Free Mediterranean Tuna Salad Sandwiches RecipeThis mayo-free tuna salad is loaded with Mediterranean flavors, including plenty of fresh olive oil, capers, olives, fennel, celery, and a splash of lemon.
Read more »
Childhood Cancer Survivor Now Works to Help Others Like HerA cancer survivor as a child, Maggie Rogers now works with the American Cancer Society to help others like her.
Read more »
Ukrainian missile attack survivor recounts the horror of Russian blast that killed her parentsUkrainian missile attack survivor recounts the horror of Russian blast that killed her parents: “Physically I am very well, but mentally, I can't even describe it.”
Read more »
In a first, South Korea must compensate a Vietnam War massacre survivorIn a historic first, a South Korean court has ordered the government to compensate the survivor of a massacre committed by South Korean troops during the Vietnam War.
Read more »
Young cancer survivor now battling the disease in the labFor Miah Margiano, fighting pediatric cancer is not just an academic obsession - when she was only 7, she needed a life-saving bone marrow transplant for leukemia.
Read more »
Young cancer survivor now battling the disease in the labMiah Margiano is one of 40 finalists in the Regeneron Science Talent Search - the oldest and most prestigious science competition in the nation.
Read more »