Koca Halil Budak, around 80, says he survived a powerful earthquake at the age of 8 and feels lucky to have done the same for a second time yesterday when he visited Adana to see his son.
Awkwardly rubbing their palms together for warmth, elderly people prepare to spend another night in a school in Adana that has been turned into a temporary shelter for earthquake victims.
Most will sleep on the floor, some on some old couch.
With the help of younger relatives or neighbors, they walked to the school to protect themselves from the bitter cold prevailing in the area.
Defying the danger, children and grandchildren briefly returned to their homes, which tremble every time there is a strong aftershock, to bring them their medicine or a few blankets.
For many elderly people it is not the first time they are faced with a devastating earthquake. The two strongest earthquakes that shook southeastern Turkey yesterday Monday (magnitude 7.8 in the morning and 7.5 in the afternoon) claimed the lives of more than 6,300 people in Turkey and neighboring Syria.
86-year-old Kemal came down from the 4th floor of an apartment building supported by his 60-year-old daughter.
“I wasn’t afraid for my life, I was worried about my daughters“, he tells the Reuters agency, having put his feet up on a chair, wrapped in a blanket to keep warm. One of his three daughters recounts how she literally climbed up to get to their apartment and bring her father his heart medication and some painkillers.
The 73-year-old Elif had lived through the 1999 earthquake in Nikomedia, which caused the death of approximately 17,000 people.
“We were shaking and crying… Me, my daughter and my granddaughter“, she narrates, wrapped in a blanket in the school auditorium, with 15-year-old Naime by her side.
Koca Halil Budak, around 80, says he survived a powerful earthquake at the age of 8 and feels lucky to have done the same for a second time yesterday when he visited Adana to see his son.
“I was trying to hold on to the closet while the house was shaking… My son was yelling “Dad, don’t be afraid”… We quickly got out» he describes, with his wife and children by his side.
“It was the first big earthquake in my lifesays a 62-year-old man in a tracksuit who left his home with his wife. She has a headscarf wrapped around her head and is examining a glittering ring on her hand, without speaking. He does not resent the second night he will spend at school.
“They are fine inside, at least they are warm“, explains the 62-year-old, bearing in mind that many others are crowding into tents or even their cars.
RES-EMP
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With a wealth of experience honed over 4+ years in journalism, I bring a seasoned voice to the world of news. Currently, I work as a freelance writer and editor, always seeking new opportunities to tell compelling stories in the field of world news.
