The combined death toll in Turkey and Syria has climbed to more than 41,000 and millions are in need of humanitarian aid. Many survivors have been left homeless in near-freezing winter temperatures.
Now over ten days since the quakes flattened cities, the focus of emergency forces has shifted to supporting survivors. But stories of how people survived for days buried under the rubble have also begun to emerge.
A view shows the aftermath of the deadly earthquake in Hatay, Turkey, February 9, 2023. Credit: Reuters / Emilie Madi
MERSIN, Turkey (Reuters) - Huseyin Berber's voice was hoarse from calling for help from under the rubble of his home but he was finally freed more than a week after Turkey's massive earthquake, defying the odds for survival and one of several remarkable stories to emerge.
Berber, a 62-year-old diabetic, survived 187 hours after the walls of his ground-floor flat were propped up by a fridge and a cabinet, leaving space for him to sit in an armchair with a rug to keep him warm. He had a single bottle of water, and when that ran out, drank his own urine.
"In a second tremor, the ceiling collapsed, but it did not touch me. I immediately crouched, sat down. The wall fell over on to fridge and the cabinet. I was stuck there with a rug on me. I shouted and shouted but no one heard me."
A member of the Turkish medical rescue team said that people under the rubble can generally survive up to five days.
Huseyin Berber, 62, a survivor who was rescued after being trapped under the rubble for 187 hours in Antakya at Mersin City hospital, February 15, 2023. Credit: Reuters / Maxim Shemetov
KAHRAMANMARAS/ANTAKYA, Turkey (Reuters) – A teenage girl was pulled alive from the rubble in Turkey on Thursday more than 10 days after an earthquake that has killed more than 42,000 people in the country and neighbouring Syria, as families of those still missing await news of their fate.
The 17-year-old was rescued in Turkey's southeastern Kahramanmaras province, broadcaster TRT Haber reported, 248 hours since the 7.8 magnitude earthquake that struck in the dead of night on Feb. 6.
While several people were also found alive in Turkey on Wednesday, reports of such rescues have become increasingly infrequent.
Rescue teams work at the site of a building collapse where two people are alive in Hatay, Turkey. February 14, 2023. Credit: Reuters / Clodagh Kilcoyne
ISKENDERUN, Turkey (Reuters) – Turkish children left homeless by the massive tremor have been learning to cope with what happened and their ongoing anxiety over aftershocks by playing 'earthquake' with building blocks, a teacher said.
"They talk about the earthquake. They build blocks and say... 'is this okay for earthquakes?' and 'is it stable?'," said teacher Busra Civelek, who was looking after 22 children in a makeshift classroom on a ferry that has been converted into a clinic and shelter in the port of Iskenderun.
The long-term psychological effects will only be understood with time. The extent of the trauma is enormous. Some have been pulled from the rubble after hours in the cold and darkness to discover family members have died or are missing, and the busy neighbourhoods where they lived have been reduced to mounds of shattered concrete.
Doctors have said they are treating increasing numbers of patients suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and panic attacks.
A child rests in a ferry turned into a makeshift healthcare facility in Iskenderun, Turkey, February 15, 2023. Credit: Reuters / Eloisa Lopez
