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With Thousands of Buildings Destroyed by Earthquakes, Containers House Families and Physicians in Turkey

In Hatay, Turkey, more than 75,000 buildings were destroyed by earthquakes earlier this year. Since then, containers are providing space for pharmacies and health services, as well as housing, for people who have been displaced.

News

Turkey-Syria Earthquake 2023

A physician examines a patient inside a primary healthcare center, housed in a container in Samandağ, Hatay, Turkey, on Oct. 25, 2023. (Photo by Ali Saltan for Direct Relief)
By Staff

In February 2023, a series of large earthquakes leveled many parts of southern Turkey and northwestern Syria, killing tens of thousands and injuring exponentially more. More than nine months after the quakes, large swathes of the city landscape remain piles of rubble, and clean-up continues. In the city of Hatay, more than 75,000 buildings were destroyed beyond repair, according to the International Blue Crescent Relief and Development Foundation.

Since rebuilding will be a long process, many people who have been displaced from their homes have found temporary housing in pre-fabricated containers. More than 150,000 people reside in the containers, and become communities in their own right, housing families and others that may not have access to permanent housing for some time.

  • Water access and sanitation services continue to be challenges at an Informal tent camp in Narlica hosting around 300 Syrian EQ survivors. Direct Relief is supporting health providers caring for refugees in these temporary living situations. (Photo by Ali Saltan for Direct Relief)
  • Dr. Ali Kanatli (left) is a primary healthcare physician in Narlica near an informal tent camp hosting around 300 Syrian earthquake survivors. Dr. Kanatli and Direct Relief’s Dr. Hande Arpat examine a child presenting a skin condition. (Photo by Ali Saltan for Direct Relief)
  • Dr. Ali Kanatli is a primary healthcare physician in Narlica near an informal tent camp hosting around 300 Syrian earthquake survivors. (Photo by Ali Saltan for Direct Relief)
  • Access to water and sanitation facilities continue to be challenging in container communities. (Photo by Ali Saltan for Direct Relief)
  • Women’s health services are also container-based. (Photo by Ali Saltan for Direct Relief)
  • Healthworkers from the Association of Public Health Specialist’s women health center in the mobile unit van, which brings health services to women. (Photo by Ali Saltan for Direct Relief)
  • A healthworker from the Association of Public Health Specialist’s women health center, operating out of containers and also from a mobile van, supported by Direct Relief. (Photo by Ali Saltan for Direct Relief)
  • A family relaxes near their temporary container home in Hatay, Turkey. (Photo by Ali Saltan for Direct Relief)
  • A family relaxes outside of their temporary container housing. (Photo by Ali Saltan for Direct Relief)
  • Even in a landscape of destruction, new life blooms in Hatay, Turkey. (Photo by Ali Saltan for Direct Relief)
  • Thousands of buildings were destroyed from February’s earthquakes, and cleanup continues in Hatay, Turkey, on Oct. 24, 2023. (Photo by Ali Saltan for Direct Relief)
  • Direct Relief has been supporting primary healthcare centers and doctors with needed medical equipment, as earthquakes caused massive damage to healthcare infrastructure. (Photo by Ali Saltan for Direct Relief)
  • A physician examines a patient inside a primary healthcare center, housed in a container in Samandağ, Hatay, Turkey, on Oct. 25, 2023. (Photo by Ali Saltan for Direct Relief)
  • A physician examines a patient inside a primary healthcare center, housed in a container in Samandağ, Hatay, Turkey, on Oct. 25, 2023. (Photo by Ali Saltan for Direct Relief)
  • A physician examines a patient inside a primary healthcare center, housed in a container in Samandağ, Hatay, Turkey, on Oct. 25, 2023. (Photo by Ali Saltan for Direct Relief)
  • A field screening helps identify children with malnutrition risk. HMC has been providing protein-rich food supply to support EQ-survivor children’s growth and development. (Photo by Ali Saltan for Direct Relief)
  • Dr Yusuf Çekmece, a primary healthcare physician in Hatay, working inside a container-primary healthcare center. (Photo by Ali Saltan for Direct Relief)
  • A Direct Relief-supported pharmacy operating from a container in Hatay, Turkey. (Photo by Ali Saltan for Direct Relief)
  • A shepherd with his sheep near the city center of Hatay, Turkey, much of which was destroyed during this year’s earthquakes. (Photo by Ali Saltan for Direct Relief)
  • A family living in a container camp in Hatay, Turkey. (Photo by Ali Saltan for Direct Relief)
  • A container camp in Hatay, Turkey, in Oct. 2023. The camp is hosting more than 900 people, one-third of whom are children. (Photo by Ali Saltan for Direct Relief)

In an effort to bring healthcare services to these areas, primary health centers have been set up in and among the containers. Doctors are practicing in the containers, but are financially responsible for outfitting the containers with medical supplies needed. Direct Relief recently committed $300,000 for medical equipment to support 58 primary health centers as they locally purchase needed items to better serve people.

Direct Relief staff recently spent time in Hatay, where health services continue to take place during the recovery phase. Since February, Direct Relief has provided more than $130 million in medical aid to Turkey and Syria as part of the earthquake emergency response.

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