As the death toll from the Turkey-Syria earthquakes nears 42,000, one Barrie resident says some of his family members were killed and he prays for others who have been left homeless amid the devastation.
As of Friday morning, Turkish authorities say more than 38,000 people have died in the country, while the government in neighbouring Syria and the United Nations have that country’s number close to 6,000 following the magnitude-7.8 earthquake on Feb. 6.
Fettah Aydin, a 37-year-old Barrie man, explained the early moments of the earthquake for him and his family when they heard the news last week.
“When it first happened, we called and tried to reach everyone back home, but we could only contact a few people,” he said. “There was no cell connection because of damage and also so many people around the world were trying to call friends and family.
“It was a disaster.”
Aydin said news eventually got back to him that his aunt’s apartment building in the city of Iskenderun had been one of the tens of thousands of structures in Turkey that had been destroyed. Iskenderun, which has a population of more than 500,000 people, was among the hardest hit.
“We found out that my aunt and her granddaughter were in the building and now underneath the debris,” he said solemnly. “The whole first day, we were just praying, hoping she was alive. My family and friends went to the building and started searching.
“That first day, they were able to get the granddaughter out; she was alive, but had a lot of internal bleeding and passed away the next day in hospital.”
Aydin said the granddaughter told rescuers her grandmother was, at one point, alive near her somewhere in the pile of rubble.
“She told them that she heard her grandmother praying that they would all get out,” he added, “but when the second earthquake came, she said she did not hear her anymore.”
The second earthquake came a few hours later and registered a 7.7-magnitude.
Aydin said his wife has also lost family members in the tragedy.
The devastating earthquake affected 10 provinces in Turkey — also known as Turkiye — where some 13.5 million people reside, as well as a large area in northwest Syria that is home to millions.
While Aydin says he tries to focus on praying for those who have been affected, he admits he continues to question why it took three days for the government to respond to the affected zones.
“My friends and family came to the building where my aunt was — they rescued her granddaughter. The government was nowhere yet. The military is the most powerful thing the government has — lots of young, strong men who could have been there immediately and helped,” he said.
“I don’t know why it took so long, especially with so many years of warnings.”
The affected area is known for earthquakes. Aydin says he remembers “smaller shakes” when he was growing up in the region. He says experts have long warned of a major earthquake that would be destructive to the area, but no one heeded their warnings.
“For years, scientists said the area hasn’t had a big earthquake for about 600 years and there was a huge amount of energy underneath,” he said. “They would warn of a 7.4 or bigger earthquake for years, but no one listened. Buildings were not built properly, just rushed.”
Aydin says it’s the same situation in Istanbul, which is Turkey’s largest city with about 16 million people.
“If they get hit with this size of earthquake, the results will be horrifying,” he added.
Most of Aydin’s family are no longer in Iskenderun due to the appalling conditions in the wake of the quake.
“It’s very sad, but besides the buildings not being stable or just being gone, they had to leave because of the smell of dead bodies, sewage and the fear of sickness like cholera coming back,” he said. “There’s also no running water, so many people have fled to other areas for shelter.”
He remembers how the area looked when he was a young man, but knows it may take years to be that way again.
“To me, seeing pictures and videos, it seems like a war-torn zone now. I’ve never seen my home like this and it is a heartbreaking thing, because it doesn’t look like a city anymore,” he said.
Despite the tragedy and chaos of the quake, Aydin says he also saw some good come from all of this. He and his family attend the Barrie Mosque on Ferris Lane, where others who have also been affected by the disaster joined together. The mosque has also been collecting donations to help people in Turkey and Syria.
“We are there for each other, praying for each other. Just the other day, some people came to my house to be with us and one of the men had lost many relatives in this,” Aydin said.
“All we can do while we’re here is pray and be there for each other. Everyone from there has either lost someone or knows someone who lost someone.”
He was also happy to see what he wished would happen even without natural disasters.
“I have been seeing people sending help, food, water, clothes, and anything that is needed, and I want to say thank you. People need help and it doesn’t matter what country you are from; we are all human and should be there when it matters,” he said.
“This is a horrible event, but people here in Barrie and around the world are doing the right thing and it is nice to see.”
