This week marked the passing of one month since a 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck near the Turkish city of Gaziantep on February 6, followed by dozens of powerful aftershocks. More than 50,000 deaths have been reported across southern Turkey and northwestern Syria. Rescue and recovery efforts have wound down, and the work of removing rubble and demolishing damaged buildings has begun. The United Nations estimates that 1.5 million people were made homeless by the quake, and local groups, charities, and government agencies are working to care for them, setting up tent cities, repurposing passenger-train cars, and opening up mosques and hotels. Gathered below are images from across the quake-hit region over recent weeks.
A Month Since the Devastating Earthquake in Turkey
Hints:
View this page full screen.
Skip to the next and previous photo by typing j/k or ←/→.
-
![A sequence of four images shows workers using construction equipment to demolish a quake-damaged building.]()
Read moreA sequence of images shows workers demolishing a quake-damaged building in Malatya, Turkey, on March 7, 2023. More than a thousand damaged buildings in the region have been demolished since the February 6 earthquake. #
Hakan Burak Altunoz / Anadolu Agency / Getty -
-
![Several people sit in a street around a campfire amid quake-damage buildings.]()
Read morePeople warm themselves around a fire, spending the night outside in case of aftershocks, in Kahramanmaraş, Turkey, on February 25, 2023. #
Omer Taha Cetin / Anadolu Agency / Getty -
![An aerial view of dozens of tents set up beside residential buildings]()
Read moreAn aerial view of a field hospital built by Belgium in the Kırıkhan district of Turkey's Hatay province, seen on February 28, 2023 #
Gokhan Balci / Anadolu Agency / Getty -
![A view of a stretch of railroad track twisted by the earthquake]()
Read moreA view of a stretch of railroad track twisted by the earthquake, in Adıyaman, Turkey, on March 1, 2023 #
Orhan Cicek / Anadolu Agency / Getty -
-
![A man walks beside his son on a bicycle as they pass a heavily damaged building, including one tall section that stands precariously.]()
Read moreA local man and his son pass by a partially collapsed building in the Narlıca neighborhood of Hatay, Turkey, on February 21, 2023. #
Mehmet Kacmaz / Getty -
![People eat outside cafes beside destroyed buildings and piles of rubble.]()
Read morePeople eat outside near destroyed buildings in İskenderun, Turkey, on February 28, 2023. #
Aziz Karimov / Getty -
![An aerial view of a damaged three-story building after a nearby minaret fell across it]()
Read moreAn aerial view of a damaged three-story building after a nearby minaret fell across it during the February 6 earthquake, in Adıyaman, on March 1, 2023 #
Orhan Cicek / Anadolu Agency / Getty -
-
![A woman holds the hand of her son, leaning her face on his arm.]()
Read moreHavva Arslan holds the hand of her son, Saltuk, in the container home where the family lives, after they were all rescued from the rubble of their home in the aftermath of the earthquake in Nurdağı, Turkey, on March 4, 2023. #
Susana Vera / Reuters -
![A couple lie on a mosque floor under a blanket.]()
Read moreSemra Sendur sleeps next to her husband, Adil, at a mosque where some earthquake survivors shelter, fearing aftershocks in Adana, Turkey, on March 6, 2023. #
Susana Vera / Reuters -
![A couple holds hands while sitting inside a train carriage.]()
Read moreYusuf Kurma and Aysel Ozcelik sit holding hands in one of the carriages at İskenderun train station as they talk about their upcoming marriage, in İskenderun, Turkey, on February 18, 2023. Turkish authorities have been racing to find accommodation for the more than 1.5 million people left homeless after February's huge earthquakes. Survivors have been sheltering in tents, container homes, hotel resorts, and even train carriages in İskenderun, a port city in the province of Hatay that was badly hit by the earthquakes. The couple, who planned to marry, ran to find each other after the first shock. Now they might postpone the wedding. "We can't have a wedding when we have so many dead," Ozcelik said. #
Eloisa Lopez / Reuters -
-
![Trucks and excavators work to remove the rubble of destroyed buildings.]()
Read moreAn aerial view of heavy equipment working on the debris of damaged buildings in Gaziantep on March 6, 2023. #
Firat Ozdemir / Anadolu Agency / Getty -
![Destroyed cars, pulled from the rubble, are stacked in piles.]()
Read moreDestroyed cars, pulled from the rubble, are stacked in Malatya, Turkey, on February 28, 2023. #
Mesut Yilmaz / Dia Images / Getty -
![An aerial view of a quake-damaged mosque, where the main dome has collapsed]()
Read moreAn aerial view of the quake-damaged Kurtuluş Mosque, in Gaziantep, on March 6, 2023 #
Adsiz Gunebakan / Anadolu Agency / Getty -
-
![The interior of a mobile-hospital tent]()
Read moreThe interior of one of the tents of a mobile hospital, set up in Kahramanmaraş, Turkey, on February 26, 2023 #
Aziz Karimov / Getty -
![People line up for food handouts.]()
Read morePeople line up for food near a tent city set up in Hatay, Turkey, on March 1, 2023. #
Umut Unver / Dia Images / Getty -
![Children play, kicking a ball among tents.]()
Read moreChildren play among tents set up for survivors in Adıyaman, Turkey, on February 27, 2023. #
Orhan Cicek / Anadolu Agency / Getty -
-
![A man is seen from behind, carrying his young grandson, who snoozes on his shoulder.]()
Read moreFevzi Anli carries his 3-year-old grandson Fevzi in his arms as they wait to receive food in Orhanli tent city in Antakya, Hatay province, Turkey, on March 3, 2023. #
Susana Vera / Reuters -
![An aerial view of a heavily damaged residential building that has fallen against a neighboring building]()
Read moreA destroyed apartment block is seen on February 20, 2023, in Hatay, Turkey. #
Chris McGrath / Getty -
![An elevated view of a massive rock that has broken in half, with one part falling on top of a small one-story house]()
Read moreDuring the earthquake, a huge rock in Adiyaman's Eski Kahta Village rolled, then split in two, with one section falling onto a house, photographed on March 1, 2023. #
Halil Kahraman / Dia Images / Getty -
-
![Several people sit and cry beside a grave in a cemetery.]()
Read moreEmine Onal and her husband, Ahmet, cry beside the grave of their daughter, who was killed in the earthquake 15 days after she started her first job as a nurse in a state hospital, in a cemetery on the outskirts of Nurdağı, Turkey, on March 5, 2023. #
Susana Vera / Reuters -
![A wide view of a cemetery with many newly dug graves]()
Read moreNewly dug graves fill part of a cemetery, dug for those who lost their lives in the earthquake, photographed in Malatya, Turkey, on March 7, 2023. #
Hakan Akgun / Dia Images / Getty -
![A view of a roadway broken up by many deep cracks]()
Read moreDeep cracks formed in a road as the earthquake hit Samandağ, Turkey, seen on February 23, 2023. #
Mehmet Kacmaz / Getty -
-
![A person gives a gentle kiss to a small bird on his shoulder.]()
Read moreAn earthquake survivor cares for his pet bird, Blue, inside a train that has been turned into a temporary accommodation center for nearly 1,000 earthquake survivors in Hatay, on March 6, 2023. #
Mehmet Emin Menguarslan / Anadolu Agency / Getty -
![A person stands in a courtyard among dozens of cats.]()
Read moreIn this picture taken on February 24, 2023, volunteer Mohammed Alaa al-Jalil tends to cats that were rescued from the rubble of earthquake-devastated buildings at an animal shelter in al-Bab, in the Syrian province of Aleppo. #
Rami Al Sayed / AFP / Getty -
![People pray in the courtyard of a destroyed mosque.]()
Read morePeople perform Friday prayers in the courtyard of the Haci Mehmet Karatoyuk Mosque, which collapsed except for its minaret, in İskenderun district, on March 3, 2023. #
Ferdi Uzun / Anadolu Agency / Getty -
-
![A person places a child's bed on a long-armed lifting device, pulling it out of a hole in the wall of a building.]()
Read morePeople recover belongings from quake-damaged buildings in Hatay, Turkey, on March 5, 2023. #
Umut Unver / Dia Images / Getty -
![People remove small items from a pile of rubble that was formerly a residential building.]()
Read morePeople gather belongings from their destroyed homes on February 26, 2023, in Kahramanmaraş, Turkey. #
Aziz Karimov / Getty -
![A person walks among quake-destroyed buildings at night.]()
Read moreA person walks among quake-destroyed buildings in Hatay, Turkey, on February 24, 2023. #
Hakan Akgun / Dia Images / Getty -
We want to hear what you think about this article. Submit a letter to the editor or write to letters@theatlantic.com.