ISTANBUL – There have been two big earthquakes in Türkiye back to back in less than 24 hours. One of them is located in Gaziantep and the other one in Kahramanmaraş, both in the southern part of the country, near the Syrian border.
But of course these two cities weren’t the only places that were affected. A lot of places that are close by have been affected pretty badly, like Samsun and Malatya.
The last time they announced the number of people who died because of this, the number was more than 2,000 people and it was increasing.
This is why Türkiye is now in mourning for a week.
On the 23st of November last year we had another earthquake and I remember how I woke up and was very scared. I couldn’t sleep again that day. So I can’t even imagine how the people are feeling since these earthquakes were even more dangerous.
The news spread universally but when you live in Türkiye, you see the worst, saddest parts of it. People are using social platforms to ask for help because they can’t reach a loved one or because they are trapped somewhere and need help.
People all around the country are trying to help as best as they can. They are trying to send food or other necessities since a lot of people lost their homes and have to stay outside in this cold weather.
At a time like this, you can understand that even though all of us have our differences, everybody puts it aside and does everything they can to help. Some send things to help, others see people online searching for assistance and try to connect them with disaster agencies.
I was very lucky that the earthquakes didn’t affect İstanbul, but my heart breaks for everyone else who is blameless for this natural disaster.
Naz Mergen is a Reporter with Youth Journalism International.
