Regina man eager to reach family in Turkey after earthquake

The search for survivors in Turkey is continuing after the southern part of the country was struck by a 7.8-magnitude earthquake on Sunday night.

As of Monday afternoon, the earthquake had left more than 2,700 people dead, thousands more injured and many more people presumed to be missing or trapped underneath the rubble.

While Turkey is far away from Saskatchewan, the impact of the quake is being felt directly by some people who call the province home.

Tolga Ates lives in Regina, but is originally from the city of Kahramanmaraş. It’s home to more than 1.1 million people and was one of the city’s closest to the epicentre of the earthquake.

Ates said Monday that since the earthquake hit, he has only been able to get limited information from back home about the status of family members.

“I’ve been waiting for good news, but we cannot get anything,” he said. “I called (my family) and I didn’t contact nobody because the line is so busy and everybody is using their phone, I guess.

“One of my father’s houses is gone, but everyone was able to run out (before it collapsed). My uncle and auntie is the same thing; (their house) is completely gone.”

While some members of his family are OK despite losing their homes, he knows others who aren’t.

He says one of his brothers and his family are missing after their 10-storey condo building collapsed as a result of the earthquake.

The building his brother was in is about 30 years old and was a part of the old part of the city. Kahramanmaraş has been around since the 11th century, which means there are some older buildings in the city.

“Most of (the buildings) are gone. Every single building gets big damage,” Ates explained. “Some of them look good, but when you go inside, it’s totally different. Even new ones, they shake, but this (earthquake) was really strong.

“My brother is on the old city side, and the entire old city is gone.”

While all Ates can do is pray things will be all right, he already has been hit with some tragedy. He said he woke up to a text message Monday morning saying his old neighbours and some of their family members in Turkey died as a result of the earthquake.

Ates asked people to help in whatever way they can. He said Regina’s Turkish community numbers between 300 and 500 people.