Trucks, emergency vehicles and excavators lined the desolate streets of the city after its third major earthquake
\n ANTAKYA
\nTrucks, emergency vehicles and excavators lined the desolate streets of Turkey\u2019s Antakya Tuesday night, after the third major earthquake in two weeks accelerated an exodus from the once-lively city.
\nIn the pitch-black streets, passing headlights revealed mounds of rubble, frames of broken windows, and entangled rebar. Red and blue flashing lights from military and police vehicles reflected off the jagged facades of slanted buildings.
\nThe sound of excavators clawing out debris echoed through the streets as police, soldiers and disaster responders looked on, clustered around small fires dotting the cracked sidewalks. Occasionally, the digging would stop for emergency workers to inspect for possible bodies.
\n\u201cEveryone is gone,\u201d said Mehmet Ay, a 50-year-old survivor of the quakes who has been living in Antakya his entire life, and is one of the few residents who have remained.
\n\u201cThey have either died or have fled.\u201d
\nFrom a distance, the sharp cityscape of what used to be tall buildings now appeared crenulated. Chunks of the riverbanks were collapsed into the water, while soldiers blocked off damaged bridges.
\nBillboards were smashed into the ground and the scattered signage among the rubble stood as reminders of the shops that used to fill the busy streets.
\n\u201cOur streets used to be paradise,\u201d said Ay. \u201cIn a single night, everything was destroyed.\u201d
\nAy was sheltering with his wife Fatmeh and their daughter in one of the camps set up to provide temporary shelter to those who lost their homes. A generator roared over the chatter of people gathered around wood stoves outside their tents.
\n\u201cWe can\u2019t leave the camp,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s difficult to walk around because it\u2019s dangerous anywhere you go. The buildings are dangerous. Before you know it, a structure can collapse on you.\u201d
\nEarlier, as the sun set over a square next to the city hall, soldiers, volunteers and survivors lined up at food trucks and service stations for dinner and tea.
\nAt a roundabout, a statue of modern Turkey\u2019s founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk on a rearing horse was still standing. Just below it, a marble plaque with his famous quote on Hatay province becoming part of Turkey lay shattered on the ground.
\n\u201cThe disaster fell on all of us,\u201d said Saleem Fawakirji, a 57-year-old dishwasher who has been living in Antakya for 12 years after fleeing Syria. \u201cThe rich and poor alike,\u201d added his wife, Walaa.
\nThe couple, their two daughters and a son survived the Feb. 6 quake by crawling out of a small crack in the rubble. Their eldest son didn\u2019t make it.
\nFawakirji said the family had no plans to abandon the deserted city. \u201cLook how God granted all of us another life except for my son. Why take the risk now?\u201d he said.
\nAy also said he planned to remain.
\n\u201cIt will take a long time, it will take years – but we will rebuild it,\u201d said Ay, a construction worker.
\n\u201cGod willing, it will be better than it used to be.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Trucks, emergency vehicles and excavators lined the desolate streets of the city after its third major earthquake ANTAKYA Trucks, emergency vehicles and excavators lined the desolate streets of Turkey\u2019s Antakya Tuesday night, after the third major earthquake in two weeks accelerated an exodus from the once-lively city. In the pitch-black streets, passing headlights revealed mounds […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":315652,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-315639","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n