MEDİNE MAMEDOĞLU

Mereş (Maraş)- Two devastating earthquakes occurred on February 6, 2023 at 04:17 AM, with the epicenter in Pazarcık and then Elbistan, Kahramanmaraş. The earthquakes affected 11 cities in Türkiye and Northern Kurdistan, killing 53,537 people and injuring 107,213, according to official figures. However, the death toll is estimated to be higher than the official figures.

Approximately 2,000 buildings collapsed in Elbistan, a district of Mereş, in the earthquakes.

Half of the population left Elbistan

Although two years have passed since the earthquakes, the quake survivors are still deprived of their basic needs such as housing, healthcare and food. In Elbistan, dozens froze to death under the rubble and death bodies were removed from the rubble with the support of volunteers.

The quake survivors in the district had to stay in tents for days in freezing temperatures. The quake survivors have been living in container cities built in the district, where severely damaged buildings are still seen in the center. After the earthquakes, some areas in the district were declared as “reserve areas” by the Ministry of Environment, Urbanisation and Climate Change to carry out transformation projects in the areas.

There are two active hospitals in the district, where schools are open. Almost half of the population have already left the district while people staying in the villages struggle to survive in houses built by themselves.

‘We have been forgotten’

Elbistan has been rendered a ghost town while the quake survivors still struggle to survive. Ayşe Algas, 56, is one of them. She did not leave her village, Sevdilli, although her house collapsed and she lost her main source of income, her cows, in the earthquakes. “We have been forgotten,” she said, stressing that nothing has been done to heal their wounds for two years.

‘My relatives froze to death’

“We lost nothing when the first earthquake occurred at night,” she told NuJINHA. “We were in the barn when the second earthquake occurred at noon. The barn collapsed on us and we got out of the rubble by ourselves. Then, I learned that my relatives living in Elbistan had been trapped under the rubble. There was no one to help us. My relatives, including my nephew, froze to death under the rubble. We took their bodies to the village and buried them. Civilians helped us because there was no state or AFAD (Türkiye’s Disaster and Emergency Management Authority).”

After the earthquakes, Ayşe Algas built a one-room house in the village with her own means. “Nothing has changed for two years. As February 6 is approaching, I feel like I am reliving the moment of the earthquake. We will never forget that day. Although two years have passed since the earthquakes, no one has helped us.”

‘We have been left alone’

The quake survivors in the village have been forgotten, said Ayşe Algas. “Despite everything, we struggle to survive. We got out of the rubble and buried our relatives. We do not want anyone to support us but they can visit us and ask us ‘How are you?’ We have been left alone for two years.”