"Do not know where to go"

In Turkey, the strongest earthquake in several decades. Already almost five thousand people have already in the list of dead. "Medusa" talked with people who saw everything with their own eyes

On the morning of February 6, in the southeast of Turkey, near the border with Syria, there was a powerful earthquake, which led to large-scale destruction. During the day, tremors continued - at least one of them in power was comparable with the original. As of the morning of February 7, it was known about almost five thousand people who died in Turkey and Syria. More than 20 thousand people suffered. Medusa talked with Russian-speaking residents of cities in the southeast of Turkey about what is happening in the country.

Love

Gaziantep, 30 kilometers from the epicenter a earthquake

We [with the family] live on the outskirts of Gaziantep. The earthquake began in four with a penny in the morning ( Turkey is in the same time zone as Moscow, approx. Medusa ).

A warning [on a mobile phone] indicating [what to do] I saw already during [jerks]. The second time, when [a powerful earthquake] began again, the warning came after it ended.

Very scary. [It is necessary] to leave the house - everyone knows this, but I understood that it was dangerous on the street. We got into the car and drove away from the houses. Everyone began to leave. Now many have already ended with gasoline, at the queues of the queue, much is closed. The weather is bad: snow, rain. People are suffocating to sit in cars.

In the morning the mosque opened, many [like us] went there. There are many people here. A cafe is open nearby, there are also a lot of people. When it took a little, many ran home-they took blankets, pillows, some products, water, who had something, and returned back to the mosque. We plan to stay here with an overnight stay.

Now it shakes periodically - slightly, but every five minutes. They say that [later] will come eight points ( meaning magnitude - approx. Medusa) . We sit, [when it starts] we will run into the street.

People have a panic. Very scary because there are a lot of rubble. People get out from under them. A lot of victims, dead. Very scary. I do not know anything [about what the Turkish authorities say, and about evacuation]. Where to evacuate? Where are the guarantees that it will be calm there?

Victoria

Adana, about 220 kilometers from the epicenter

The tremors began somewhere at four in the morning. The second is the same strong [as the first, whose magnitude was estimated at 7.7] at about 13:20. I felt even stronger.

It was shaking so that I could not run out of the house - and this is despite the fact that I have the first floor. There were no warnings about the earthquake. [The media report that in the city] at least 30 houses were destroyed , but on the other side of the city.

[When the opportunity appeared] I ran away from home. I waited about 15 minutes and returned for a cat and documents. Safe places for evacuation were published on the Internet. [The authorities] asked not to block the road so as not to interfere with the rescuers to move around the city.

[Now with a cat] we are sitting on the street, we have money, water, food, but [later] there will be problems with food, because everything is closed: cafes, shops. We spend the time in the car, today many will sleep in cars. In the morning we will think what to do next.

“Medusa” in Russia is now not only “foreign”, but also an “undesirable” organization. This status is much worse than the previous one. Nevertheless, we continue to work. We can still read us. It is safe. Here are all answers to anxious questions.

Alexey

Adana, about 220 kilometers from the epicenter

At 4:30 in the morning I woke up from the fact that the house was very staggering. My friends and I live on the ninth floor, the Chukurov district, [quarter] yurt. We quickly collected the necessary things - jackets, passports - and went out into the street. The house was very staggering, but we [still] did not understand how serious everything was. And when we left, we saw that the house next to us was half -dried. It seems that everything happened instantly - it was shaking a minute, no one was ready for this at night.

When we went down the stairs, there was already a large crack on the wall. In the area where we live, all houses in cracks - we walked and saw them on the facades. When they were shaking, they looked just like some kind of accordion: up, down, sideways, then they somehow flattened, then, on the contrary, it pulled out. Scary.

In Turkey, they tried to work out the system [notification of earthquakes in advance], but there was nothing [as a result], no SMS. After, maybe two to three hours, SMS came from the operator that cellular communications work with interruptions, you can call over the Internet. SMS came to my friends that it was better not to return home.

At first there was a shock. Next to us is a school-in her courtyard a rather large platform, for some time we spent there. It was raining heavy when he calmed down a little, we decided to walk. Either people are accustomed to earthquakes, or maybe at first they simply did not understand the entire scale of the disaster - but Starbucks worked. We went there, sat, drank coffee and decided that it was impossible to return home and take things, it is dangerous to go back. All Friends-Turks say that there may be new waves [tremors].

The locals got into cars and went to the plains or to the area where there were no houses. The problem of Adan is that there is a very dense development and, when an earthquake occurs, these houses shakes. You don’t know where to go: buildings from all sides can collapse. We heard that in Mersin, it was about a hundred kilometers from Adan, more dead, and decided to go there.

We will stay in Mercin, until it becomes clear what to do next. Of course, I don’t want to return home - we will wait for the [authorities]. We do not even know if the house is intact - we saw it only after the first earthquake, and after the second push, which was at lunch, we no longer returned.

We met a second impetus on the street, on the road ring, around us were at home-they were all different and all “played” in different ways [deformed]. The fluctuations were so strong that we were afraid that [on us] something would collapse. There was a panic on the streets. Everyone rode somewhere, everyone signals: an ambulance, police, military ...

People, of course, immediately began to rake the rubble. [But] During the second push, we saw how the houses that have already become ruins collapsed [even stronger]. And those people who helped others also [found themselves under the rubble].

Olga

Mersin, about 300 kilometers from the epicenter

I am in Mersin, here the earthquake is only four points ( meaning magnitude - approx. "Medusa" ). There were no warnings about him, the tremors began at night. And now he is staggering, but there is no destruction. Schools were closed until Monday.

Previously, there were often 3-4 points, so at first I reacted calmly. And when the ex -husband called - he was in Gaziantep - [and told] that there was a nightmare, of course, I was in shock. Friends sent a video how new houses collapsed there.

Now there was a second wave - they warned about it. In Gaziantep [Magnituda] 7.5, so far no one answers [calls and messages]. There is really no connection there, still shocks.

Everyone is on cars, they are not allowed into houses ( officials asked local residents to leave their homes because of the fears of new underground shocks-approx. Medusa ). The main road to exit from the city is damaged by earthquake.

A lot of people under the rubble, there are not enough rescuers. There are no departures - her husband’s colleagues cannot fly to Europe. There is no evacuation, as far as I know. By night they are waiting for the third wave.

Anastasia

Mersin, about 300 kilometers from the epicenter

The earthquake felt at four in the morning: the house was very staggering, as if there was a pitch of a ship. The chandeliers were shaking. We were very scared. All this lasted about a minute, and we thought that it was over. After 10 minutes, the tremors resumed, I looked out the window and saw that many Turks ran out into the street, got into the car and left.

We [with the family] went out into the street, stood a little at the entrance, the minibus drove up. It was a bus of a neighbor who works as a driver. He gathered people from the street and took everyone to an open area - in the field. We stood there for about two hours, then we were brought back home. Small shocks lasted at eight in the morning and at 12 days. About one in the afternoon, when we were on the street, people began to run out onto the road in crowds [because of a strong re-push]. The cooks ran out of the restaurants in the aprons, someone sobbed, there was a terrible panic. My husband was at this moment at home - he ran out [to the street] in slippers, because it was very scary.

Now there are reports that a strong magnitude is expected from five in the evening and until night. People do not return home, spontaneous fees are formed in the city, people gather in parking lots, and huge bonfires are burning. We are now gathered in kindergarten, here they distribute soup, tea and cakes. Most likely, here we will stay overnight.

It was in Mercya that there was no destruction, but there was a strong shaking, and it frightened everyone. On an hour drive from us there is the cities of Adan, there they collapsed at home, it is very annoying and frightening. Therefore, we do not risk, we do not go home.

The most interesting thing is that about a month ago, there were exercises in case of earthquakes throughout Turkey, the phone screamed from notification. And now, when an earthquake really happened, we have not received a single warning. We learn about any messages that come [from the authorities] by chance. Some alerts are sent by employers. It came to us from the school where my son is studying.

There were no personal newsletters to the Turkish numbers, which is surprising. So far I can’t say that I see any actions from the government. There are spontaneous fees, state institutions and city halls accept people, take out chairs and tea, but there is no centralized evacuation as such. I also heard that tent places are organized. Now in chats [residents of the city] lists of admission points [people who have nowhere to hide] began to appear, but before that there was complete confusion.

Louise

Tashuju, about 390 kilometers from the epicenter

The earthquake did not touch our area much. Somewhere at 4:20 in the morning we woke up because the bed began to shake, but we did not attach much importance to this. I am a geologist by specialty and I know that this is a seismically safe zone , so we did not have any special excitement. When the second earthquake began, I was already at work, this is a little further from the hearth. A few minutes at our work trembled at work.

Someone collects alarming suitcases, panic, but in general everything is calm. The hearth was on the combination of two tectonic plates, such things are difficult to predict, there were no messages [from the Turkish authorities] in advance]. [But] in general, when natural disasters occur, messages always receive us.

Maxim

Mersin, about 300 kilometers from the epicenter

The first earthquake began early in the morning, at 4 hours 17 minutes. I woke up when a small trembling began. I live in a high-rise house on the 12th floor, the whole house went with a shaking, in the kitchen things fell from the shelves, the building was very strong.

There were no alarms. Someone came to someone, nothing came to me. The first wave passed in three minutes, I immediately began to gather. While going, the second earthquake began. I looked out into the street, saw that all the Turks were sitting on cars and leaving, and realized that it was necessary to do the same. When he went down, all the people from the [my] building were on the street. At night I returned home, new tremors began during the day. A strong earthquake was north of us.

The Turks conduct training on earthquakes, so they know what to do: they get in cars with families and leave for wastelands, away from high -rise buildings. Those who have cottages or summer houses go to where less high -rise buildings.

I loaded my alarm suitcase into the car and sit in a one -story summer cafe, next to which there is no building. It is safe here, because as such a roof is not, only a stretched awning. Now I'm waiting for information from the Turkish authorities.

Christina Safonova and other authors of Medusa