PodcastTurkey's earthquake survivors grapple with rebuilding lives one year after
Even though one year passed since Turkey's deadliest earthquake struck the country's 11 provinces in the southeastern region, many have been trying to rebuild their lives among rubble. More than 215,000 people live in container homes in worst hit Hatay province, facing numerous challenges.
Reuters
Abdullah Yanar planted flowers in front of his container home to make it feel more like a real home for his family, who have been living in temporary shelters in southern Turkey since last year's devastating earthquake.
Abdullah Yanar and his wife Sabahat Yanar sit outside their container home in Hatay, Turkey, Jan. 31, 2024.
The 7.8-magnitude quake that struck last February, modern Turkey's deadliest, killed several of Yanar's relatives and damaged his apartment, forcing him and his wife, daughter and son to move first into a tent then to one container home after another.
An aerial view shows a container city in the aftermath of last year's earthquake, in İskenderun, in Hatay province, Feb. 2.
"Thank God we have a roof over our heads. But it is a bit difficult to live in a container with two children," Yanar said in his home in Hatay, the province hardest hit by the quake that cut across southern Turkey and northern Syria.
Yanar, who is 38 and works for the local authority, says that despite some rebuilding it will take a very long time to restore the historic provincial capital of Antakya.
An aerial view shows a cleared residential site where buildings stood before last year's earthquake, in Hatay province, Feb. 2.
Faced with unaffordable rents on "real homes", and unpredictable water and electricity supply in his 21 square-metre (226 sq. ft) container house, he is not hopeful about his family's future.
"I do not have any expectations. We don't enjoy life at all. But still, a thousand thanks to God," he said.
Sabahat Yanar sits in her container home, in the aftermath of last year's earthquake, in Hatay, Jan. 31.