Earthquake in Turkey (2023) by Sergei Stroitelev

CHAPTER I

LIFE AND DEATH WALK SIDE BY SIDE
Turkey, 2023

On February 6, 2023, two strong earthquakes of magnitude 7.8 and 7.5 occurred in Turkey. The disaster claimed more than 50 thousand lives.

I arrived at the epicenter of the earthquake, the city of Antakya on the same day and began to document the events. The place turned into a ghost, the air was a haze of dust from collapsed buildings, I heard screams.

I witnessed how a father pulled the body of his five-year-old son out of the rubble with his own hands. Later on I saw how small team of rescuers saved a young man who been lying under cold concrete without water for 150 hours.

In such situations, life and death walk side by side, people show their best and worst qualities, all the feelings are sharpened. This horror displays not only the fragility of a human being in the hands of nature, but also the power of their will and desire to survive.

The epicenter of the earthquake...under the rubbles in this city.

The epicenter of the earthquake the city of Antakya was destroyed by 95% and the surviving 5% of buildings became uninhabitable. More than 20 thousand people lost their lives under the rubbles in this city.

The body of 5 y.o. Zaid which h...ed them in the nearest future.

The body of 5 y.o. Zaid which his father Bashar dug up from the rubbles with his own hands. The rescuers arrived only the next days and locals had to clear the rubble on their own.
Bashar's family who moved from Aleppo to the Turkish city of Osmanye which was also demolished during the tremors in the hope of escaping the war and starting a new life had no idea that such a tragedy awaited them in the nearest future.

Bashar carries Zaid's b...nobody knows if they are alive.

Bashar carries Zaid's body to the ambulance. His other 2 sons remain under the rubbles of his collapsed home on the outskirts of Osmanye, the city which was also demolished during the tremors, and nobody knows if they are alive.

Elif, 65 y.o., stands on the ru...what to do and how to live now.

Elif, 65 y.o., stands on the rubbles of her collapsed house in Antakya In this tragedy she lost 4 grandchildren She has no idea what to do and how to live now.

About 10 cemeteries with unmark... bury them as fast as possible.

About 10 cemeteries with unmarked graves have appeared in Antakya. There is no one to identify some bodies.
Corpses cannot be left on the streets for sanitary reasons - cholera could break out in the city so locals and soldiers try to bury them as fast as possible.

2 days have already passed sinc...e raising her hands to the sky.

2 days have already passed since the earthquake happened but Defne's son has still not been found. She won't get a break from the rubble of her home in Kahramanmaras (the epicenter of the second earthquake) even though rescuers tell her they can no longer hear any sounds. Mother in grief cries without interruption from time to time raising her hands to the sky.

A jacket captured on the rubble...nter of the second earthquake).

A jacket captured on the rubble of one of the houses in Kahramanmaras (the epicenter of the second earthquake).

Rescue teams who arrived at the...r help by shouting or knocking.

Rescue teams who arrived at the epicenter of the second earthquake the city of Kahramanmaras, worked non-stop - day and night. International teams from all around the world joined Turkish AFAD (Ministry of disasters management). During the first week their numbers and resources were too small to save everyone so they had to make the hardest choices.
Through the tones of cold bars and concrete they made their way to survivors who were begging for help by shouting or knocking.

As the result of the one of the...Rescue operation took 10 hours.

As the result of the one of the operations rescuers managed to save the life of Mustafa Sarigul, 25 y.o, resident of Antakya.
He has spent 150 hours under the rubble in cold, darkness and without water. He was shouting his name and rescuers finaly heard him. Rescue operation took 10 hours.

Soldier is crying after the suc...dy is considered as a miracle.

Soldier is crying after the successful rescue operation.
It is always a very emotional moment and every rescue executed after 7 days from the moment of tragedy is considered as a miracle.

Photographs of the people who d...eople would come to collect it.

Photographs of the people who died in the tragedy can be seen everywhere in the epicenter.
They are left near the houses in hope relatives or friends of those people would come to collect it.

Women are sitting near the fire... wood in the fire can be heard.

Women are sitting near the fire, fifty meters away from their collapsed home. It was very cold in Antakya at that time (temperature went down to -5 at night) and making a fire was the only way for locals to warm up.
All the hopes and planes of these women collapsed together with their home in just a minute.
They are sitting in silence and just the crackling of wood in the fire can be heard.

Humanitarian aid left on the st...O's and private donors.

Humanitarian aid left on the streets of Antakya by the local NGO's and private donors.

The main highway leading into t...e first days after the tragedy.

The main highway leading into the city of Kahramanmaras was covered with huge cracks, which were a problem for large trucks carrying humanitarian aid arriving in the city in the first days after the tragedy.

CHAPTER II

FAMILY ALBUM
Turkey, 2023

On February 6, 2023, two strong earthquakes of magnitude 7.8 and 7.5 occurred in Turkey. The disaster claimed more than 50 thousand lives.

On February 8, whilst documenting the work of the rescuers on the rubbles I discovered a family picture. It was lying on the road, covered in dust. The image displayed a mother and a child hugging each other. I did not know those people but the find really touched me. That day I left the photograph where I found it.

A week later I witnessed how excavator destroyed family albums whilst clearing the rubbles. It was when I decided that I had to save at least some of these photographs and started collecting them. As a result I have had a dozen of scratched and burned images of the unknown victims of the tragedy - metaphors of the suffering of the entire Turkish nation.

When I got back home I carefully wrapped up the photos in the traditional Turkish fabric and rephotographed them. I tried to be as gentle as possible with these memories which shouted about the fragility of a human being's life in the hands of the powerful and unpredictable nature. Patterns on the fabric complemented the burnt and destroyed parts of the images, thus suggesting that any trauma can be healed. And this will definitely happen with Turkey, after a while.