THE QUAKE CRISIS

On February 6, a catastrophic 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck Türkiye, destroying 11 provinces and killing more than 50,000 people. Here, three journalists including the managing editor of marie claire Türkiye - share their harrowing experiences and hopes for the future

ÖZLEM GÜRSES

FREELANCE JOURNALIST AND TELEVISION ANCHOR

The night before the earthquake struck, I lay awake with crippling insomnia. Eventually, I took medication and drifted off to sleep. I had a real shock when I woke up in the morning to find out the country had just experienced what would turn out to be the biggest natural disaster of my lifetime.

As a journalist and storyteller I wanted to instantly jump in the car and go to the heart of the affected area, but the roads were destroyed and there was real chaos. Eventually after four days I found a route to get through, where I quickly learnt there was a gap between what was being told to us and the truth.

I headed to one of the worst-affected regions – the Hatay province in the south, which borders Syria. The roads were full of cars as people who had spent their entire lives in the area had packed up all their possessions and were trying to get out. The lines for fuel seemed endless. I saw the pain echoed across the faces of everyone. They all shared the same expression: empty nothingness.

The images of destruction and debris were unimaginable. Destroyed mosques, multistorey apartment blocks that had folded in on themselves, tulle curtains hanging from intermingled floors, furniture that seemed to hang in the air. Piles of donated clothes and children’s toys were strewn over the streets – no organisation or coordination of volunteers existed in order to get these precious parcels to those most in need.