Turkey: Disaster zone quake rattles confidence, topples buildings

(Cover photo courtesy IHH Humanitarian
 Relief Foundation / Story photo
 by Baptist Global Response)

Turkey (MNN) ― A second quake struck eastern Turkey late Wednesday night, leveling two more hotels that had survived the October 23rd quake.

Rescue workers searched Thursday for survivors amidst the rubble. At least eight people, including a Japanese aid worker, were killed in the new quake. 

Wednesday's magnitude 5.7 quake knocked down 25 buildings in Van. The two hotels were the only occupied buildings because the others had been evacuated after the first temblor. Aid workers and journalists were among the guests in the hotels, trapped in a grim replay of the earlier destruction. 

Angry residents protested in front of the rubble, claiming authorities should have closed the hotels because of the damage they sustained in the earlier quake. Riot police were called in to subdue the crowds.

Against this backdrop of confusion, Baptist Global Response teams were working. BGR's Pat Melancon says their crisis teams have been "responding ever since the first quake. They have actually only temporarily left for a few days and now are returning. They had planned to return prior to the second quake that occurred in Turkey."

With the new crisis, the teams will continue on the same course of action they've been on, helping new survivors. "It entails trying to provide temporary shelter for those who, because their houses have been damaged, don't feel that it's safe for them to move back into their homes," says Melancon. "It also entails doing food distribution, trying to provide blankets, and keeping people warm."

There have been roughly 1,400 measured aftershocks since Oct. 23. Many residents had been living in tents despite the cold, too afraid to return home. They are now joined by the survivors of Wednesday's quake. That, of course, means stretching resources. "Until folks can re-establish a sense of normalcy, it will require, of course, additional funds for us to give them food, give them more shelter, and also provide as much warmth as we can." 

Another complication in providing food aid is that hoarding has begun. Local supplies are not readily available, so food and other emergency aid have to be purchased elsewhere and transported into the quake zone. That requires more time, money, and manpower.

The BGR team has been working non-stop since October 23. While they are totally focused on being the living Gospel, "It's very discouraging once you've rebuilt your house, picked up the debris  and you've begun to put your house back together for a second earthquake to occur. Then suddenly, all the progress you've made has just been reversed," says Melancon.

Pray. Melancon says, "People are very shaken. We have a number of believers who are trying to help them work through and process what's happened to them and how their lives have changed."