Turkish quake victims sleep in trains, tents, greenhouses

Nearly two weeks after a massive earthquake leveled tens of thousands of buildings and displaced millions of people in Turkey and Syria, many are still struggling to fulfill their basic needs and some are bedding down in tents, factories, train cars, and greenhouses.

People pushed from their homes in the disaster zone described a wide range of conditions: Some were able to find regular hot showers, while others feared freezing to death.

The Turkish government and dozens of aid groups have launched a massive relief effort. The government said Wednesday that more than 5,400 shipping containers have been deployed as shelters and over 200,000 tents dispatched.

But it’s facing a massive disaster. The government says at least 56,000 buildings, containing more than 225,000 homes, were either destroyed by the Feb. 6 quake or too damaged to be used. There is no official figure for the number of people displaced in Turkey’s side of the disaster region, which is home to some 14 million, or 16% of the country’s population.

Others seeking protection from winter temperatures have resorted to any structure that will keep out the elements.

Near the Mediterranean coast in Hatay, one of the hardest-hit provinces, farmers in Samandag district fled their damaged homes to large tunnel-style greenhouses used for growing tomatoes, bringing with them whatever bedding and cooking utensils they could salvage.

Locals said that around 2,000 people were now living under the plastic covers. Many had lost not just their homes but also their livestock.

“There’s no safe place apart from the greenhouses, because the houses collapsed due to the earthquake,” said Ozkan Sagaltici, in his 50s.

The villagers have set up wood stoves inside the greenhouses to cook the food handed out by aid agencies.

“We have no clean clothes,” said Suzan Sagaltici, who’s staying in a greenhouse on the other side of the village. “We can’t clean ourselves as we would like to, we can’t take a shower. It’s very difficult to live here. There’s no sink. We have nothing. It’s like living in the open air.”

Other displaced people have found relatively stable shelter. Elsewhere in Hatay, the Yuksel family found refuge in a metal factory, where they have been provided with necessities including clothing and household items.

Veysel Yuksel, his wife, Dilek Nur Yuksel, and their three children are living in a trailer at the factory near the port city of Iskenderun. The children play among heavy machinery as their parents prepare food.

“Our house has not been completely destroyed but seriously damaged,” said Yuksel. “All the buildings surrounding ours have been ruined.”

In the first days after the earthquake, around 1,600 people from the nearby town of Dortyol stayed at the factory, but half later left for other parts of Turkey.