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.

The quake that struck in the early hours of Feb. 6 levelled towns and parts of some cities in the country's southeast. It killed more than 53,000 people in Turkey and nearly 6,000 in neighbouring Syria and left millions homeless.