When the 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck Turkey and Syria Monday, Halil Aydin, a Turkish American businessman, immediately tried to reach his family.
Aydin is from Besni, a city 25 miles from Gaziantep, the epicenter of the earthquake. His brother’s wife texted, “We are okay,” and for two hours, that is all the communication he had from his two brothers and two sisters. Then, news started trickling in: The family apartment was destroyed, walls cracked and under rubble.
Over 3,400 people are estimated dead with the number expected to rise as rescue workers search for survivors in the rubble. Thousands across Turkey and Syria have been left injured.
“My sister told me, ‘We run away without shoes and without clothes,’” Aydin, a Fountain Valley resident, said.
His cousin, who lives in the village of Yenikoy, lost two daughters. One was in her last year of university and the other had just finished high school.
Their “janaza,” or funeral, is set for Tuesday, Aydin said.
Another one of his cousin’s daughters broke a leg and was sent home as doctors are overwhelmed with patients and there was no space to keep her.
He is not sure what will happen to her.
In Besni, with temperatures averaging about 21 degrees, Aydin’s siblings and their families have been sheltering in a tent. Sometimes they will go inside their car to warm up, Aydin said.
And in Marash, his father-in-law is also living in a tent with other family members, his home destroyed, Aydin said.
Relief efforts haven’t reached them yet, he said, with the cold weather, lack of manpower and few supplies in the affected areas making it difficult.
President Joe Biden said U.S. teams have been deployed “to support Turkish search and rescue efforts and address the needs of those injured and displaced by the earthquake.” A Los Angeles County Fire Department search-and-rescue team, too, is heading overseas to aid in relief efforts.
Alphan Atay, a father of three who lives in Irvine’s…
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