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Antakya’s Uzun Çarşı, a historic covered bazaar, was partially destroyed during the Feb. 6 earthquakes. Workers have cleared much of the debris from walkways and shopkeepers have reopened, sometimes directly across from piles of rubble.
Natural disasters

In Turkey’s hardest-hit province, earthquake survivors adapt to a life without buildings

Six months after twin earthquakes devastated southern Turkey and northern Syria, the residents who remain are carving out a life amid the rubble.

The World

Antakya’s Uzun Çarşı, a historic covered bazaar, was partially destroyed during the Feb. 6 earthquakes. Workers have cleared much of the debris from walkways and shopkeepers have reopened, sometimes directly across from piles of rubble.

Durrie Bouscaren/The World

Six months after record-breaking earthquakes devastated southern Turkey and northern Syria, the historic city of Antakya is a rolling landscape of cracked high-rises, tent cities and piles of debris. 

The freezing temperatures of the earthquake’s immediate aftermath have been replaced by dust and 95-degree-Fahrenheit days.

Despite the Turkish government’s promise to rebuild affected areas within a year, nearly everyone in the city continues to live in tents and converted shipping containers — set up in front of gardens, olive orchards and open fields.

Donated tents, designed for the winter cold, soak up the heat of the sun. But skin infections, borne by flies, are common. Organized settlements of container homes are set up on hot concrete, surrounded by barbed wire, and are reliant on regular shipments of drinking water.

Of the more than 50,000 deaths reported in Turkey, half occurred in Hatay, the country’s southernmost province. Grief pervades almost every corner of the province but, slowly, the residents who remain are carving out a life amid the rubble.

Here is a photo essay by The World’s Durrie Bouscaren.

Translations by Duygu Yeral.

Some homes and buildings remain standing in central Antakya, Turkey, awaiting demolition.
Some homes and buildings remain standing in central Antakya, Turkey, awaiting demolition.Durrie Bouscaren/The World
Mustafa Güler, a tinsmith in Antakya’s covered bazaar in Turkey, lost 57 members of his family in the earthquakes.
Mustafa Güler, a tinsmith in Antakya’s covered bazaar in Turkey, lost 57 members of his family in the earthquakes.Durrie Bouscaren/The World
A motorcyclist rides past a demolished building in the beach town of Samandağ. A converted shipping container serves as an insurance office.
A motorcyclist rides past a demolished building in the beach town of Samandağ. A converted shipping container serves as an insurance office.Durrie Bouscaren/The World
From their terrace, a family watches a building next door get torn down. Asbestos wasn’t banned in Turkey until 2010, and environmentalists fear the dust created by earthquake debris is toxic.
From their terrace, a family watches a building next door get torn down. Asbestos wasn’t banned in Turkey until 2010, and environmentalists fear the dust created by earthquake debris is toxic.Durrie Bouscaren/The World
A child walks through a tent camp in an olive orchard in Antakya, Turkey.
A child walks through a tent camp in an olive orchard in Antakya, Turkey.Durrie Bouscaren/The World
A container camp in Antakya, Turkey.
A container camp in Antakya, Turkey.Durrie Bouscaren/The World
An informal tent camp set up in an olive orchard in Antakya. The Turkish government has prioritized its own citizens for container housing, and most residents of informal tent camps are Syrian refugees.
An informal tent camp set up in an olive orchard in Antakya. The Turkish government has prioritized its own citizens for container housing, and most residents of informal tent camps are Syrian refugees.Durrie Bouscaren/The World
Syrian children outside their tent in Antakya, Turkey. Many Syrian families who lost their homes in the earthquake are living in tents.
Syrian children outside their tent in Antakya, Turkey. Many Syrian families who lost their homes in the earthquake are living in tents.Durrie Bouscaren/The World
A tent hospital set up on Samandağ beach, not far from a large dump site for earthquake debris.
A tent hospital set up on Samandağ beach, not far from a large dump site for earthquake debris.Durrie Bouscaren/The World
Many shops have reopened for business in converted shipping containers, like this liquor store.
Many shops have reopened for business in converted shipping containers, like this liquor store.Durrie Bouscaren/The World
Semih and Serap Bozaydi reopened their tailoring shop in a market of small, prefabricated buildings set up by the government.
Semih and Serap Bozaydi reopened their tailoring shop in a market of small, prefabricated buildings set up by the government. The shopkeepers will be charged rent starting in October, and the Bozaydi’s aren’t sure they’ll stay. “It feels like a temporary life,” Semih said.Durrie Bouscaren/The World
Mişel Atik, director of the Samandağ Environmental Protection and Tourism Association, stands outside the ruins of the historic house that he had painstakingly restored.
Mişel Atik, director of the Samandağ Environmental Protection and Tourism Association, stands outside the ruins of the historic house that he had painstakingly restored. The morning of Feb. 6, Atik had randomly awoken just a few minutes before the earthquake, and escaped through a window just before his home collapsed.Durrie Bouscaren/The World
Environmentalists help hatching sea turtles reach the surface on Samandağ Beach, just a few meters from a large dump site for earthquake debris.
Environmentalists help hatching sea turtles reach the surface on Samandağ Beach, just a few meters from a large dump site for earthquake debris.Durrie Bouscaren/The World

Related: Life returns to Antakya, a city nearly leveled by earthquakes in southern Turkey

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