On an obscure mound of rubble in southern Turkey lies an unusually well-preserved window frame with butterfly-print curtains that flutter in the cool breeze.
“This is Seda’s room.”
Before the earthquake, 19-year-old Seida Okan looked out of this window and these curtains, onto her street in the city of Iskenderun. Now her best friend Dimla is on the road with her family to keep an eye on the collapsed apartment block, hoping that Seida has survived, as rescue workers sort through and dogs sniff for signs of life.
Damla met Seeda in the neighborhood when she was six and Seeda was eight, and they stayed close. They bought these curtains together on a recent shopping trip.
“We both love butterflies,” Damla says through tears. On her phone is a photo of a birthday cake Seda arranged for Dimla with her sister, and in purple icing with a butterfly decoration reads: “Who loves you the most in the world?” Does? Of course we do!”
Ceyda’s apartment block, called Orcan, sat in the center of Iskandar in a row of medium-sized pink and beige buildings with small balconies, all with shops on the ground floor. When the magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck at 04:17 on Monday, Seida, along with other Orcon residents, must have been sleeping.
The block was broken by the force of the earthquake.
Many buildings have been destroyed in southern Turkey this week, but this is the story of Orkan, which houses 14 other flats with Seda and her family. In the days after the earthquake, their friends and family gathered around Orkin hoping for the best and talking about their loved ones.
We witnessed a brief moment of joy on Wednesday when one survivor was pulled from the rubble after more than a day of digging – one of Seda’s neighbors.
According to rescuers and residents of the area, she was able to say that she had spoken to Seida through the collapsing walls, and Seida said she was fine. But officials warned that the survivor was distraught – it may not have happened. As of Friday, there was no further news.
We went back to Orkan for three days in a row to observe informal rescue efforts, people running to safety, and field hospitals set up for survivors. Rescue workers and neighbors told us they knew of three people who survived – the rest are unaccounted for.
Orkan was home to a tight-knit community, where neighbors often visited each other’s homes for tea or strong Turkish coffee, those gathered said.
Residents of Orkan and other buildings on the road have formed WhatsApp groups and organized regular meetings. “It was like, your place this week, your place next,” said one local man. “It’s the Turkish way.”
When asked how the neighborhood was, Damla’s uncle Amrullah, who ran the local grocery store, shook hands. “Like this,” he said.
Orkin has been standing for decades. “I’m 50 years old and I remember going through it on my way to and from school,” said one man.
When the earthquake struck, locals told us that buildings in Orcon Row fell “like dominoes.” On either side of the destruction line, similar buildings appeared unscathed and their occupants spoke with both guilt and relief.
