* Any views expressed in this opinion piece are those of the author and not of Thomson Reuters Foundation.
David Darg, director of International Disaster Relief and Special Projects at Operation Blessing International, recently visited eastern Turkey where a 7.2-magnitude quake devastated Van province on Oct. 23, 2011.
The focus of the destruction was around 80 miles North of Van in the town of Ercis. Multi-storey apartment blocks had collapsed killing hundreds of people and leaving others trapped alive. Search and rescue teams from Turkey were quick to respond and with freezing temperatures it was a race against time to locate survivors.
Many of the buildings in Ercis were left standing but are so badly damaged that they will need to be demolished and are uninhabitable. Most of the town’s 100,000 residents are living in camps or have left to live with relatives.
By the third day after the quake the search for survivors became more desperate with local residents ignoring the warnings of the rescue crews and military, and digging though the rubble with borrowed tools or even by hand. Several serious rescue-related injuries were reported at the emergency hospital in Ercis. Many families were compelled to dig like this after hearing mobile phones ringing when called.
The Turkish military were in Ercis in numbers tasked with maintaining order and keeping back the crowds of onlookers who were watching the rescue efforts. Many of the onlookers were family members desperate for news of their loved ones trapped in the rubble.
Many residents showed pictures of their missing family members to local media in the hope that they would be found alive.
Some parts of Ercis looked similar to the scenes after the 2010 Haiti earthquake. Many buildings fell because of substandard construction techniques and materials.
Rescue crews worked through the night in freezing temperatures in the search for survivors.
The stamina of the rescue crews was amazing. This photo was taken on the 5th night after the quake and still rescue teams were scrambling to remove layer after layer of concrete to get to a presumed survivor. These teams have a difficult task of dismantling these heavy buildings as delicately as possible so as not to cause any more injury to potential survivors but it is a race against time. Not very long after I took this shot a 13-year-old boy was pulled alive from the rubble in a different location. He was the last survivor of the earthquake, the search has since been called off.
For those who were lucky enough to be pulled alive from the rubble an emergency trauma center had been set up in a gymnasium in Ercis. Many relief teams were sleeping at the other end of this gym and for the first few days and nights there would be moments of excitement as survivors were rushed in.
This mother was anxiously waiting for her daughter to be X-rayed in the gym / trauma center in Ercis. It turned out her child had broken her arm in the earthquake.
The line for the tent distributions in Ercis stretched on for about half a mile at one point with men standing for up to 8 hours in the cold. At the distribution point there were several scuffles with the military having to keep constant watch. Many of the frustrations were aimed at opportunists coming in from the surrounding areas and claiming tents without a real need.
This is how most families in Ercis are now living. With the winter months bringing cold and snow it will be a difficult time for many thousands in these conditions.
In Ercis town center residents built fires to keep warm through the night while they waited for tent distributions.
Ercis is a small industrial town in a fairly remote part of Eastern Turkey. The residents have been left in shock with many wondering what the future will hold for them. Lack of insurance means that many will be completely reliant on the government to provide them with new homes and jobs.
I was in Ercis with the US charity, Operation Blessing International. On day two after the earthquake we were delivering bottled water and food to a camp in Ercis and worked with the Turkish Red Crescent to distribute the meals. Once the food and water situation had stabilized we focused our attention on medical care by supporting the German medical charity, Humedica. I was immensely impressed with the Turkish Red Crescent, they very quickly stabilized the humanitarian emergency and had excellent personnel and equipment.
In this photo residents stand in line waiting for a hot meal served by the Turkish Red Crescent. This was day three after the earthquake and for many this was the first hot meal they would have had since the disaster.
Any open spaces like football pitches and parks were quickly turned into camps by the Turkish Red Crescent. The camps were quickly filled by families who are considered to be ‘the lucky ones’ because they are receiving attention from NGOs and medical teams and have access to electricity.
This was mealtime on day four after the earthquake and the first bit of fruit that the residents had received since the disaster. After the third day there were no reports of residents not having sufficient food and water, shelter was the big priority need.
The children in the camps in Ercis were surprisingly energetic and joyful despite having gone through such a terrifying ordeal. In general the survivors and residents in Ercis have shown remarkable resilience. The worry is that frustrations will spill over if the housing situation isn’t resolved quickly especially with the weather due to turn even colder.
