“A Miracle”: A Syrian Woman on How She Survived the Earthquake

“A Miracle”: A Syrian Woman on How She Survived the Earthquake

Iman Hamrawy

Umm Ahmad is still trying to get a grasp of what has become of her life and to adjust to the fact that she doesn’t have a house anymore. Since the earthquake struck, she’s been sleeping in an old train used for selling low-priced clothes.

Umm Ahmad (40 years old) has lost her house in Şehitkamil, Gaziantep. However, she and her family survived. “On that day, at dawn, my two-year-old son woke up thirsty. Not long after, the house started to shake. I didn’t know what to do, so I remained inside and asked Allah to keep me and my children safe,” she said.

Umm Ahmad’s house was a two-storey old Arab building. It was likely to collapse, if struck by a 7.7-magnitude earthquake, and so it did.

“We were sleeping upstairs. The house collapsed while we were still inside, but Allah saved us,” Umm Ahmad adds.

The house, with the family inside, was flattened to the ground. “Thanks to Allah, we survived. I asked Allah to keep my children unharmed, and to shield me from experiencing the bitterness of loss,” she said.

The family was unharmed. Yet, this was the second time the family found itself homeless since losing their house in Aleppo in 2014. And now, on the 6th of February 2023, in this freezing-cold weather following some snowy days; and in a garden near the rubbles of their house, the sky has become their roof.

Many families were stranded in the streets. And so, they asked the neighborhood mukhtar to let them sleep in an old train in the same neighborhood. They had no other option.

Today, Umm Ahmad and her children are staying in the old trailer near the rubbles of their house along with nine other Syrian families displaced by the earthquake that destroyed some of their houses. Regardless of the tough experiences she’s been through, Umm Ahmad says that a miracle is what kept her alive.

Today, Umm Ahmad doesn’t know what awaits her and her children. Her spouse is in Europe. And, as she says, she’s got no one but Allah. As the cold crushes their bones, Umm Ahmad waits daily for charity food in the trailer that has become a temporary home.

On February 6, 2023, a 7.7-magnitude earthquake struck southern Turkey and northern Syria. In hours, another 7.6-magnitude quake followed, along with hundreds of intense aftershocks, resulting in major losses of souls and properties in both countries.

As thousands were trapped under the rubbles of their houses, rescue teams managed to pull many people from the ruins of their houses, days after it had collapsed on top of them. However, others couldn’t be reached.

Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, had promised to pull all citizens from the rubble. “We’ll work hard not to leave any of our citizens, dead or alive, under the rubble. Soon after, we’ll be removing rubble and reconstructing,” he said.

"We’re planning to rebuild hundreds of houses, bases and superstructures. In other words, we’re planning to rebuild our severely damaged cities. Concrete steps will be taken, in this regard, in weeks,” he added.