Gaziantep, Turkey
CNN
—
Our parents woke up in terror, screaming as the ground shook under us. I yelled at them to hide. “It’s almost over, it’s almost over!”
It’s past 4:15 am and I’m at my parents’ house in Gaziantep, southern Turkey. When I felt the first tremor, the area was pitch black.
I wasn’t too worried at first. I thought this was another small quake that I feel around here every couple of months. But then the tremors got stronger and stronger.
After just a few seconds, the furniture fell over and shook with the sound of cracking. my parents were screaming “Stay under the door jamb,” I shouted, begging him to calm down.
The power felt like someone was trying to overthrow me, and I could feel a violent echo in my chest. I fell to the ground. The shaking continued. It was several minutes before it finally stopped.
We ran out of the house in pajamas and slippers. It was freezing cold and it was pouring rain. There was snow on the ground. The whole neighborhood was on the street.
Twenty minutes after I thought it was over, the first aftershocks came. I counted 11 one after another.
I hurried back inside to get my coat and proper boots, jumped in my car and moved to an open area away from the building. I heard ambulances and fire trucks heading towards the old town, full of old and fragile buildings.
Aftershocks continued throughout the day. Some were incredibly powerful. It was hit when it was right next to a large badly damaged building. Civil defense officials yelled at everyone to flee.
After that, I drove to Pazarjuk, a town of 35,000 people near the hypocenter. It felt like Armageddon. Every street he has at least one completely destroyed building.
A Syrian man who lives there told me that the building right next door had collapsed. Someone, the woman he said, was still inside when the building collapsed and her rescuers were digging through the rubble trying to find her.
I stayed in Pazarchuk for 30 minutes, during which I felt four aftershocks. It didn’t seem safe to stay so I drove back to Gaziantep.
At that moment, the ground began to shake again. It felt biblical. Everyone ran out of their car. The shaking was so strong that I could not stand. The water in the ditch beside the road swayed violently back and forth like a storm.
People trying to leave Gaziantep were stuck in a traffic jam that stretched for several kilometers. There were cracks in the road and a wrecked car on the side of the highway.
In Gaziantep, they take refuge in a mosque, which is safer than their home. City officials are distributing water, bread and hot rice.
We know it’s safer to be outside in case the aftershocks continue. But the temperature is below freezing. My parents can’t be out in the open.
