Hatay Province

Millions of people early Feb. 6 partook in "silent marches," traversing through desolate streets across 11 southern provinces to commemorate the 53,537 lives on the first anniversary of the twin earthquakes.

Participants observed a moment of silence at 4:17 a.m., the haunting moment when the first tremor of 7.7 magnitude struck the cities while millions were asleep.

HATAY, Turkey - "It felt like the world was turning upside down. Telling the story is not the same as experiencing it." Sixty-one-year-old Kanraman Karat vividly remembers this night last year when the earth shook violently in the middle of his slumbers, taking tens of thousands of lives and destroying hundreds of thousands of properties.

Shopkeepers and small businesses in the southern province of quake-hit Hatay's Antakya district attempt to navigate the challenging path of survival as they try to earn their livelihoods in 25 square meter container shops.

The strengthening works are ongoing uninterruptedly in Türkiye's prominent Hatay Archaeology Museum, which sustained damage during the deadly earthquakes that jolted the country's southeast in early February last year.

HATAY - Abdullah Yanar planted flowers in front of his container home to make it feel more like a real home for his family, who have been living in temporary shelters in southern Turkey since last year's devastating earthquake.

LONDON - When a devastating earthquake struck Turkey in the early hours of February 6, 2023, the five-storey building in Hatay where 13-year-old Mehmet Koc lived collapsed, burying him in rubble and killing his older brother Emre, 14, and his mother Didem.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has marked the approaching first anniversary of devastating earthquakes by attending the handover ceremonies of new homes built for those left homeless in the affected regions.
The president continued his visits on Feb. 4 in Gaziantep. In a ceremony held in the Islahiye district, Erdoğan oversaw the delivery of 10,090 houses to their rightful owners.

As a part of efforts to keep the historical heritage of the district alive, artifacts from historical buildings destroyed by the Feb. 6 earthquakes in Antakya, Hatay are being salvaged with "rubble archaeology" to be used in restoration.

Hatay, located in Türkiye's Mediterranean region, is home to many civilizations and known for its historical texture and cultural heritage.

The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) has launched a global donation campaign for the restoration of cultural assets damaged in the Feb. 6 earthquakes.

With a total of 352 out of 8,444 historic buildings in 11 provinces in the earthquake zone damaged or destroyed, the UNDP campaign focuses on buildings such as Hatay Archaeology Museum, Gaziantep Castle and Sarımiye Mosque.

Despite extensive searches, the contractors responsible for constructing unsafe buildings that collapsed in the deadly Feb. 6 earthquakes are still on the loose, leaving authorities empty-handed after months of investigation.

After the Feb. 6 quakes, expert reports have revealed a series of concerning findings regarding the collapsed buildings.