PodcastHatay turns into ghost town after quakes
While accomodation and heating problems of survivors still continue in Hatay, the province has turned into a ghost town after the Feb. 6 major earthquakes. A heavy equipment operator said “I think even the pieces of fabric I see are human bodies. I am scared."
Kadir Cesur / DUVAR
The southern province of Hatay’s Iskenderun district was one of the places where the Feb. 6 major earthquakes heavily damaged. Hundreds of houses and vehicles in the district became unusable.
Roads and bridges collapsed due to the quakes in Iskenderun. During the earthquake, many vehicles had an accident either for being out of control or as a result of road collapse.
Two major earthquakes hit southeastern Turkey on Feb. 6 at magnitudes of 7.7 and 7.6.
On top of that, 6.4, 5.8, 5.2, 5.2 magnitudes of earthquakes hit Hatay on Feb. 20, increasing the extent of damage.
Approximately 700 people lived in the Renaissance Residence, whose flats were sold with the slogan of "A place from paradise" in Hatay’s Antakya district. The 12-storey building containing 250 flats became a grave for hundreds of people. A Hungarian team rescued 12 people from under the rubble here.
The earthquake victims, whose beloved ones were under the rubble of the Renaissance Residence, waited for days with hope of rescue. The names of the people who were rescued were written in the lists in the information center established by the Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) in the site.
One of the notes in the center read "The dead bodies were taken to the Provincial Coordination Center on the Hatay road. Fingerprints and photographs will be taken (from the bodies) before they will be buried."