Whangārei-based Turks lament loss of lives during earthquake

Ferhat Doganay is constantly thinking about those that suffered during the earthquake. Photo / Michael Cunningham

Scenes of collapsed buildings and survivors pulled from the rubble following a powerful earthquake in south-eastern Turkey keeps Whangārei businessman Ferhat Doganay awake at night.

His niece and sister-in-law back home escaped unhurt but said everyone was on tenterhooks, given Turkey’s history of repeated earthquakes and the sheer number of high-rise buildings.

At least 3500 people have died after a 7.8 magnitude earthquake hit the Turkish city of Gaziantep on Monday morning (local time) and a second, measured at 7.5, struck nearby just nine hours later

The World Health Organisation has warned the death toll could rise eight-fold as rescuers comb through mountains of rubble in freezing and snowy conditions looking for survivors.

Doganayhails from Sivas, which is about five hours by road from Gaziantep, said the situation was dire.

“My sister lives in Sivas and her family woke up from the shake. They then switched on the television and saw the carnage. My wife’s sister works in a high-rise building and they managed to escape but luckily the building is intact,” he said.

Civil defense workers and residents search through the rubble of collapsed buildings in the town of Harem near the Turkish border, Idlib province, Syria. Photo / AP

With big buildings still collapsing in three cities, Doganay said people in neighbouring towns were being advised to stay away from high-rises.

He couldn’t sleep on Monday after watching the recovery effort back home.

“Although my family has not been caught up in the disaster you can’t see others dying, being pulled out from the rubble. It’s so sad.”

The first person he tried to call was his niece, who works on the 14th floor in an affected area, but couldn’t get through. She texted him about an hour later to say she was fine.

Among those affected were many of Turkey’s 3.7 million registered Syrian refugees, the biggest such population in the world.

Turkey lies in one of the world’s most active seismic zones and is crossed by numerous fault lines. The disaster affected several southern Turkish provinces stretching hundreds of kilometres, where about 13 million people are bracing for colder winter temperatures.

The first quake was felt as far away as Egypt and Cyprus. It was the worst in Turkey since a 1939 earthquake that killed about 33,000 people.