It's been a year since the double devastating earthquake that hit Turkey and Syria on February 6. One of the strongest seismic shocks ever recorded in the region left half a million people homeless and left millions with deep trauma. This is the anniversary of the death of almost 60.000 people who disappeared in the ruins, more than 53.000 in Turkey and 6.000 in Syria.
Stories about the lives of those who survived and the consequences they feel a year after the earthquake are brought by the world's media.
Fear of returning home
A year after an earthquake destroyed hundreds of thousands of homes in southern Turkey, Fatima Kirici lives in a tent with her husband and two grown children, fearing to return to the high-rise they fled from, which is still standing, writes the Associated Press (AP).
"Our house is on the edge of a precipice," said Kirici, 50, whose 20-year-old daughter and son-in-law died in the earthquake when their house collapsed. "I don't want to put my other children at risk."
As Turkey marks the first anniversary of the 7,8-magnitude earthquake, people living in the hardest-hit regions are grieving the loss of family members or friends, struggling to rebuild their livelihoods and dealing with cases of the missing. Unemployment is high and about a quarter of families in the affected region of Turkey rely on humanitarian aid, according to the Red Cross.
Extensive reconstruction efforts are underway in earthquake-ravaged areas as the Turkish government rushes to build more than 300.000 homes for displaced families, most of whom live in temporary homes made from shipping containers.
Since the house of the Kirici family is only "slightly damaged", according to the government's estimates, the family does not meet the requirements for subsidies for apartments under construction or for accommodation in a container.
That's why they spend another winter exposed to the elements: cold rain regularly soaks the ground under their tent and the mattresses they sleep on, and occasionally subsequent earthquakes shake southern Turkey and make the Kirici family nervous.
"The psychological condition of our family has worsened," said Kirici, whose tent was set up along the road, along with six other families in similar circumstances. Kirici is not sure how long her family will live in the tent, but she remains hopeful that the state will come to their aid.
As compensation for their daughter's death, the government paid the Kirici family 100.000 Turkish lira, which is about $3,300. With that money, her son bought a container where he lives with his wife and three children.
Her lingering fears about returning home are not unreasonable. In the immediate aftermath of the quake, experts said the high level of destruction and death toll was partly due to lax enforcement of building codes in the country, which sits on top of two major geological plates.
Experts warn that in a rush to rebuild without first updating building codes, the government could repeat the mistakes of the past and thus expose people to the next major natural disaster.
miraculously survived'
After the disaster, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government pledged to rebuild 680.000 homes in 11 provinces over a two-year period, including about 250.000 in Hatay. Officials unveiled the newest homes for families ahead of the first anniversary.
Residents say that housing in containers is warm enough at night. The rest of the displaced ended up in prefabricated houses that are slightly larger with two bedrooms and a living room. Among them is Gulcan Jilmaz, (47) mother of two children, who was miraculously rescued from the ruins of an eight-story building five days after the earthquake, Reuters wrote.
Jilmaz was later transferred by helicopter to Adana province. When she opened her eyes in the intensive care unit, she saw that her legs had been amputated after she developed gangrene from the cold. She has since returned to Hatay for physiotherapy and, after living in a tent, moved to a prefabricated house in the Ekinci neighborhood of Antakya in September. "In my eyes, this prefabricated house is a palace. But I want to live in one of these new apartments that the government is building," she said.
A year later, those who survived and remained in Hatay province are still deeply affected by what happened to them on February 6. Much of the province collapsed in the earthquake, but hundreds of destroyed buildings have yet to be demolished, while many of the two-thirds of Hatay's residents who remain in the province now live in shipping containers.
Images of reconstruction on posters
Yusuf, his wife Fatma and their children were at home in the town of Kahramanmaras when the earthquake struck. The entrance to the house was blocked by falling debris, but they managed to escape.
They did not receive any help for weeks, so they bought a tarp which they used to build a shelter in front of their house. At one point, 17 members of Fatma's extended family lived there.
The government eventually granted them a container in Adıyaman. After spending six months there, the family returned to their home after taking out a renovation loan, the Guardian writes.
Throughout Antakya, posters showing rebuilt buildings line the streets that once housed old mosques, baths and covered markets.
Some show images of reconstruction that differ in character from how the city once looked as a thousand-year-old center of multiculturalism, the Guardian wrote, adding that for many residents of Antakya, reconstruction cannot bring back the communities that once made their city unique. Many of these communities are now scattered across the country or are buried in cemeteries scattered around the periphery.
At the entrance to Antakya, cleared of ruins, there is a tower with a clock that still shows the time when the earthquakes occurred, a little after four in the morning on February 6, when everything changed for the city, and for all of Turkey.
Bonus video:
