A survivor from the epicentre of the earthquake in Türkiye told BNT: It was very difficult to save ourselves, our house is completely ruined

A series of destructive earthquakes in Türkiye and Syria left thousands of people homeless. Kyubra Kashlak spoke on BNT on February 6. She is a teacher in the Turkish village of Narla, at the epicentre of the earthquake.
"I couldn't look at what time it was. It all happened suddenly. We have experienced earthquakes before. We waited for it to end, but it didn't - we heard rumbling. I couldn't leave the room. Our child was crying, my husband was trying to reach him, I couldn't move because the earthquake was throwing me left and right. The wardrobe fell and blocked our bedroom door, I stayed inside."

"Suddenly the electricity went off, it was dark, but the earthquake kept going. My husband could not get into the child's room - it was dark and the door was closed, a wardrobe also fell in his room and blocked the door. We had a really hard time getting out, but we were lucky we managed. Our house is completely ruined."

"In Narla, which is a small settlement, at least 20-25 houses were razed to the ground. There are people under the rubble. But the tremors continue and it is impossible to help them. We could not get out through the door. It was so bad. We went out and the earthquake was still going on. I thought the ground would open and we would fall inside. It was really very scary. God help everyone."

"There is a lot of damage in our house. We can't get into our house anymore. We are thankful it didn't collapse, if it had collapsed we would have stayed inside. Where we were, there were many dead and injured, but I was able to contact my fellow teachers - they were fine. But there were a lot of people left under the rubble. We were sitting in the car. I don't have any acquaintances, friends, who are missing.

"In Narla, all the people got into their cars. Everyone was trying as best they could to save themselves. Some had tents, they put them up in the square. Everybody is trying to do something according to their ability. Those who had cars got into them. Those who don't have fuel are queuing at petrol stations, but nobody has any money in them. It is very scary. Very scary, indeed. It's very cold at the moment. It's been snowing a lot."

Where do we find you?

"In Gaziantep. But we are staying in our cars. Because the aftershocks continue. We arrived at my parents home. My relatives are fine, but some fellow teachers - some of their cars are crushed, some are under the rubble. A lot of people are distressed. During the second earthquake, we were travelling. The road was a wreck. The whole road is split, like on faults. It was very bad and the traffic was very bad. We were in a real nightmare. We're in a real nightmare right now. The affected areas are big and the victims are many. Maybe there are people in a worse situation and the rescuers are with them."

"I didn't see, I didn't see AFAD teams, we were looking for them. But maybe it was because it happened in many places at the same time, maybe there are people in a worse situation and they couldn't get to us, we don't know. We didn't see any AFAD teams specifically where we were."

"Schools are closed, shops are closed. In the morning they gave us bread, I don't know who gave it, they gave us bread, and we ate bread, our child ate bread. Everywhere is closed, there is nowhere to buy water. Somebody gave bread, I don't know where they got it from."

"Believe me, it was like in a horror movie - black clouds above us, the ground kept shaking, aftershocks kept happening, the car kept rocking. We got out of the house, got in the car but it kept shaking, the fear wouldn't go away, we kept being afraid."

"We can't get into the house. No, it's not possible to be in a building. Right now we are in the car. There is nowhere else to go right now. It is very cold. It was good weather, but winter came and the schools temporarily closed for winter break."

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