Turkish Quake Victims Seek Refuge in Greenhouses

Nearly two weeks after a massive earthquake struck southern Turkiye, the government has initiated a colossal aid effort, but many displaced people are still struggling to fulfil basic needs such as a place to stay.

In Samandag and Sutasi, farming villages near hatay’s Mediterranean coast, residents fled their damaged homes to large polytunnel-style greenhouses used for growing tomatoes, bringing with them what bedding and cooking utensils they could salvage.

Locals said, around two thousand people were now living under the plastic covers.

The government says, at least fifty six thousand buildings are uninhabitable, either destroyed or too damaged for people to return to and listed for demolition following the February 6 quake.

The buildings contained more than two hundred twenty five thousand residences in a country, where most of the population lives in apartments.

There is no official figure for the number of people displaced in the disaster region, which is home to fourteen million people or sixteen percent of Turkiye’s population.