While many districts were destroyed in Hatay, one of the 10 provinces that were shaken by two major earthquakes centered in Kahramanmaras, it was noteworthy that not a single debris was found in Erzin. While many districts of Hatay were destroyed by the earthquake, there was no loss of life in the district of Erzin, which was not wreckage at all.
Giving information about the latest situation in Hatay, Okkes Elmasoglu, the mayor of Erzin from CHP, on TV5 television explained the reason why there was no loss of life and destruction by saying, "I did not allow illegal construction in any way."
Elmasoglu explained the process as follows:
“Our Erzin is a town with a population of 42 thousand, 15-20 kilometers from Osmaniye and 110 kilometers from Hatay. Despite this, thankfully, we did not have any loss of life in our Erzin, caused by the earthquake itself, we were not injured, we did not have any wreckage. Apart from this, 50-60 of our citizens living outside of Erzin, living in Iskenderun, Hatay and Osmaniye, died, and I pray for God's mercy on them."
First of all, let me tell you about my period, I did not allow illegal construction in any way. Sometimes they got angry and as a mayor, they asked me, 'Is there no right man in the country other than you'. In fact, after being elected, someone said that a distant relative would come to us after three months. When I said there is nothing I can do, they said, "Are you the only truth in Turkiye?"
The 7.7- and 7.6-magnitude earthquakes, centered in the Kahramanmaras province, affected more than 13 million people across 10 provinces including Adana, Adiyaman, Diyarbakir, Gaziantep, Hatay, Kilis, Malatya, Osmaniye and Sanliurfa.
Several countries in the region, including Syria and Lebanon, also felt the strong tremors that struck Turkiye in the space of less than 10 hours.
Search and rescue efforts are ongoing and rescue teams still find survivors days after deadly tremors.