After the earthquake, a Turkish journalist discusses leaving his home country

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On February 6, a strong earthquake in Turkey deprived millions of people of sleep. But I was woken up by a call from my fiancee, Kan, at 4:17 AM

“Come here as soon as you can,” he said.

He was in our apartment in Adana, a city in southern Turkey where we lived with our three dogs. I could hear noises and creaks through the phone.

“The buildings must have collapsed everywhere,” he said, while he and the dogs hid themselves under the dining table.

I was on assignment in the southwestern city of Antalya, far from the earthquake zone. News channels reported that a 7.8-magnitude earthquake hit southern Turkey, and the damage was already catastrophic.

To me, this was not a terrible misfortune in a faraway land. The disaster area was the backdrop to my life, where I was born and raised, where my family lived and owned a restaurant, and where I planned to build my future. After spending 15 years abroad, I returned to Adana during the COVID-19 pandemic and discovered my love for the city – its warm Mediterranean climate; its proximity to the sea and the Taurus Mountains; Its streets are lined with palm and orange trees that bloom in the spring.

Earthquakes have always threatened life in Adana. In 1998, a 6.3-magnitude earthquake hit the city. I was sleeping on the couch, caught in a fever, when my mother, barefoot and in a nightgown, caught me and carried me downstairs into the yard. While our house survived, my grandparents’ building collapsed. Fortunately, they were not around at that time.

Deadly earthquake in Turkey and Syria An earthquake measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale on February 6 with its epicenter in Gaziantep, Turkey has become one of the deadliest natural disasters of this century.

After Cannes called, I wanted to fly straight home, but all flights were cancelled. So, I called my family to make sure they were okay, then started the hours-long drive to Adana, where I went to help cover the aftermath of the earthquake for The New York Times. The earthquake – and the reporting of its aftermath – forced me to consider what it might mean to leave Adana for a safer city.

Because I’ve reported from conflict zones like Afghanistan and Ukraine, I thought I’d be ready to witness the earthquake’s devastation. Instead, I was deeply disturbed to see cities I knew so well reduced to rubble.

After arriving in Adana at noon, I went straight to our restaurant and hugged my family. From there, Han and I headed to the sites of the ruins, coming face to face with the desperation of the streets. In the afternoon we went to Hatay, a province in southeastern Turkey, which had become almost unrecognizable. I started reporting from the ground and traversed the area on foot for days, often without mobile phone reception, food, water, or toilets. We even slept in the car.

Although Adana was less affected by the earthquake than other cities, 13 of its buildings collapsed and more than 400 people died. Seismologists have warned that another earthquake could directly hit the city. Many people left for summer homes on the Mediterranean coast, mountain homes or other towns where relatives could help them resettle. Despite my protests, my parents, who had fallen asleep in their restaurant, decided to move back into their building, which was built in the 1970s. Can was ready to leave, but it took me a few days to come to terms with the idea of ​​leaving Adana, which is a good place for an itinerant freelance journalist. But given the circumstances, I knew we needed to find a new location – and that meant facing higher inflation amid Turkey’s economic turmoil.

With major elections scheduled for mid-May, Istanbul deserves press attention, but it’s also at severe earthquake risk – and a high cost of living. We also considered Ankara, the capital of Türkiye, which is located in the center of the country. Its distance from breakdowns makes it safer. We spent two days there looking for apartments, but people who had fled the earthquake zone had already arrived, causing rent prices to skyrocket.

So we went back to Adana, where the rent is cheaper, even though the earthquake risk never goes away. I still want advice.

“What are the risks of staying in Adana?” I asked the eminent Turkish geologist Nasi Gürur.

He said that the pressure on the fault lines crossing the Adana Basin has increased, which has increased the chances of another earthquake in the region. He recommended that I find a building built after 2018, when Turkey last updated its building codes for earthquake protection.

We love the three bedroom apartment we were living in when the earthquake hit. It is spacious with good lighting and within walking distance to cafes and shops. The adjacent park is full of orange trees. I have years of good memories there.

But the building dates back to 1975, when building codes were looser. Fearing it might collapse in the aftermath of the earthquake, we looked for newer rentals.

In the end, the only thing we found within our budget was a one-bedroom apartment in a gray residential area far from downtown. A civil engineer checked the building documentation and said it looked okay, so we packed up our belongings and moved.

Now we live far away from the orange blossoms and charm of our old neighborhood. But the new place has some advantages: we are on the ground floor and have a yard. So if the ground starts to shake, we’ll grab the dogs, run outside, and hope for the best.

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