Mereş- Two major earthquakes hit Maraş’s Pazarcık and Elbistan districts on February 6, 2023. While the earthquakes affect millions of people, thousands of people are still under debris in Semsur Adıyaman), Hatay, Mereş (Maraş) and Elbistan. After the destruction caused by the earthquakes, Elbistan has lost its connection with the world and the time stopped for the people of Elbistan when the second major earthquake hit their district. The district has turned into a big cemetery and the people of the district still hope what happened to be a nightmare. The people who say, “We are forgotten” have to leave the city without even mourning for their loved ones.

 

The number of people who lost their lives and who are still under the debris is unknown!

In the district, where the people also suffer from freezing temperatures, the number of people who lost their lives and who are still under the debris is unknown. Almost all buildings collapsed in the district and rescue works have not been started in many parts of the district.

They have to leave the district out of desperation

Nothing can describe the apocalypse in the district. There is debris on every street and families have been waiting for their loved ones under the debris. The morgue and cemeteries in the district are full. Although days have passed since the earthquakes, the people of Elbistan still have difficulties in describing what they experienced in the moments of the earthquakes. They cannot enter their houses or stay in tents due to the freezing temperature so they have to leave their homeland.

Solidarity becomes hope for them

In the district where there is no electricity and water, people have serious difficulty in meeting their need for a toilet. Facing the risk of epidemics, the people in the villages cannot find drinking water. Despite the freezing temperature and difficult living conditions, the people rescued under the debris give people hope. Solidarity is another thing that gives hope to the people in the district. Dozens of volunteers and aids from other cities try to heal the wounds of the people.

‘It was a cataclysm’

In the district, where the search and rescue works started by the state too late due to negligence, people summarize what they have experienced by saying “We are forgotten”. In the interview with NuJINHA, a woman told us, “Thank you for not forgetting us.”

‘I come here every day to hear the voice of my bird’

When wandering in the district, we saw a woman sitting near the debris. She told us what they experience during and after the earthquakes. She has lost her 30 relatives. She asked us not to write her name. “Only two buildings collapsed after the first earthquake. Everyone waited outside for hours in the freezing temperature but people went to their houses with their children in the afternoon because it was very cold. Then, a second earthquake hit our district and many people were stuck in debris,” she told us.

‘Nobody could get out of the debris because the rescue team did not come’

The woman told us that no rescue team came to their district and many people froze to death under debris. “Our building also collapsed but no one was in it. Everyone was outside except my bird. I come here every day to hear the voice of my bird. Aids arrived here very late. No rescue team has come here. I lost 30 relatives. If rescue teams came earlier, many people would be alive now. What we experienced was a cataclysm.”