Earthquake of magnitude 5.9 occurred in the border city of Xoy caused demolition in four villages in Başkale district. The major demolition occurred in Gelenler (Qîratî) Neighborhood. No one lost their lives, but on the other hand almost all the houses and stables in the neighborhood were demolished as no one lost their lives.

 

Hundreds of animals were destroyed under the wreckage of the barns collapsed in the neighborhood where a major destruction was experienced. On the second day of the earthquake, tens of lambs have died due to the cold weather that was effective the night before as tents have started to be built in the neighborhood. 

 

NEIGHBORHOOD IS ALMOST COMPLETELY DESTROYED

 

While the destruction caused by the earthquake was much heavier in the interior of the neighborhood, it was observed that all the houses made of briquettes and mudbricks collapsed. In some of these collapsed houses, the tables set up for breakfast are still there. Some of the photos hanging on the walls show the damage caused by the earthquake.

 

Raising complaints about the fact that the number of tents are not enough, the residents want the tents to be set up especially for their animals. 

 

'EIGHT FAMILIES IN ONE TENT'

 

Şükrü Aldemir, one of the earthquake victims, said “I have 8 children. My wife was baking bread outside of the house at the moment of the earthquake. At that time, the place where our small bread bakery (tandır) was built was completely demolished. Nothing happened to my spouse. One of my children got injured on his arm."

 

Aldemir said that the authorities who came after the earthquake left the tents  without setting them up and said, “How will I set up this tent? What are we going to do here? They gave only one tent on the day of the earthquake and we stayed all together as 8 families in one tent. The tent was so cold that the children could not sleep. We want the aids to be brought to us not partially, but completely, we want the tents to be set up and left to us in a usable way."

 

'ANIMALS NEED TENTS TOO'

 

Salih Kaya, one of the earthquake victims, complains about not having a tent so far. Kaya called out to the authorities with these words: “Our only request is to set up tents for our animals. We can handle it with a blanket, but our animals stay on the snow and they will all die. In the evening, our animals remained on the abdomen, and many of our lambs died. We humans can still manage somehow, but what do we do if our animals die? Because our work, strength and life depends on these animals. We say it once again; If the tents do not arrive here, all our animals will die. It gets very cold in the evening. On the first evening, 10 lambs died from the cold. That's why we want the tents to be set up before our animals die."

 

'OUR CHILDREN ARE DEVESTATED'

 

50 Out of 100 animals owned by Dindar Gürgüz, one of the residents got killed under the wreckages after the earthquake.

 

Saying that their lambs died from the cold, Gürgüz said, “All my lambs have died and we don't have a tent. We're in a miserable condition with my kids. They brought tents, but they haven't set up yet. Our animals will spend the night on the snow. We want these problems to be solved as soon as possible."

 

'I WANT TENTS FOR MY CHILDREN AND ANIMALS'

 

Sadi Tekin, one of the earthquake survivors said, “Some of my animals got stuck under the wreckages and our lambs die from the cold. They still haven't given tents for animals. The tents given to us do not keep us warm either. Our animals are cold outside". Tekin asked for the construction of warm places for themselves and their animals.