Turks and Syrians in US watch in horror after earthquake hits homelands

Diaspora rushes to raise money and reach loved ones

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  A child being rescued from the rubble in this screengrab obtained from social media, in Bisnia in Syria. Reuters

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  A rescued boy is given water in a bottle cap in Hatay, Turkey. Reuters

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  A woman carries a box of food in Kahramanmaras, Turkey. Reuters

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  'We were screaming for help until people came to help us and they took us to the hospital', said Hamid from Homs who was injured in a building collapse. Matt Kynaston / The National

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  Palestinians attend a vigil to exress solidarity with the people of Turkey and Syria in Khan Yunius in the southern Gaza Strip. AFP

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  A collapsed building in Hatay, Turkey after a major earthquake struck southern Turkey and northern Syria on February 6. EPA

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  A Syrian man cries as he sits on the rubble of a collapsed building in the rebel-held town of Jindayris. AFP

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  A man carries a girl who was rescued from the rubble of a collapsed building in Hatay. EPA

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  Members of the Turkish community in Berlin gather humanitarian aid. EPA

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  A Turkish soldier in front of a collapsed building in Hatay. EPA

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  The rubble of buildings in the village of Besnaya in Syria's Idlib province. AFP

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  Russian rescuers search for survivors in the town of Jableh in Syria's Latakia province. AFP

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  A photo taken with a drone shows an aerial view over collapsed buildings after an earthquake in Hatay, Turkey. EPA

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  Destruction in Hatay city centre. AP

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  Members of the Turkish community in Berlin collect aid to support victims. Reuters

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  An injured man is carried to an ambulance after being rescued from the rubble in Hatay. Reuters

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  A man carries an aid box in Hatay. Getty

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  Bags of wood for fires are distributed in Hatay Turkey. Getty

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  A man trapped in rubble waits while debris is removed in Hatay. AFP

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  Residents look for their relatives in Hatay. AFP

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  Rescuers look for survivors under the rubble of collapsed buildings in Kahramanmaras, close to the quake's epicentre. AFP

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  Emergency personnel search for victims at the site of a collapsed building in the city of Iskenderun. EPA

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  Muhammet Ruzgar, five, is carried by rescuers from the site of a damaged building in Hatay. Reuters

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  A newborn found attached by her umbilical cord to her mother and pulled alive from the rubble of a home in northern Syria receives care at a clinic in Afrin. AFP

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  Women grieve in Hatay, Turkey. Reuters

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  Smoke billows at the site of a collapsed building in Iskenderun, Turkey. Getty

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  An Iraqi plane offloads aid at Damascus airport in Syria. Reuters

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  Two people cry near rubble in Turkey's Hatay province. Reuters

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  A damaged building in Iskenderun. EPA

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  Rescuers search for survivors at the site of a collapsed building in Iskenderun. EPA

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  Cennet Sucu is rescued from beneath the rubble of collapsed hospital in Iskenderun. Reuters

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  Security forces load Red Crescent aid on to a plane destined for Syria at a military base in Baghdad, Iraq. Reuters

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  People rest next to fire amid the rubble in Hatay, after a 7. 8-magnitude earthquake struck Turkey's south-east. AFP

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  Rescuers board a charter plane in Cologne, Germany, as they head to Turkey to assist in the search for find survivors of the quake. Reuters

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  Injured survivors wait to be treated at a field hospital in Iskenderun,Turkey. Getty

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  Residents of Turkish city Adana gather at the scene of a collapsed building. The death toll in Turkey and Syria has risen to more than 2,000 after the region's strongest quake in nearly a century. AFP

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  Residents search for survivors amid the rubble of collapsed buildings in the village of Besnia, in Syria's north-western Idlib province. AFP

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  A rescuer carries a Syrian toddler, Raghad Ismail, away from the rubble of a building. Reuters

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  Residents wait anxiously as rescue operations take place in Diyarbakir, Turkey. Reuters

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  Rescue workers search for survivors under the rubble in Diyarbakir. Reuters

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  Residents search for survivors in Besnia, Syria. AFP

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  A Syrian man weeps as he carries the body of his son who was killed in an earthquake in the town of Jandaris. AFP

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  A wounded man in Jandaris. AFP

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  Rescue workers search for survivors in Diyarbakir, Turkey. Reuters

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  A man carries a girl to safety following the earthquake, in Jandaris, Syria. Reuters

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  People receive treatment at Al Rahma hospital in the Syrian town of Darkush. AFP

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  Rescuers carry a girl from a collapsed building, in Diyarbakir, Turkey. Reuters

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  A survivor is extracted from the rubble in Diyarbakir. AFP

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  The aftermath of the 7.8-magnitude earthquake on February 6 in Adana, Turkey. Reuters

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  Rescuers work near the site of a collapsed building in Hama, Syria. Reuters

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  Turkish sweet vendors at Dubai Waterfront Market watch earthquake updates on a phone. Victor Besa / The National

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  Hayri Aggül and Ismet Guven watch the latest news on the disaster. Victor Besa / The National

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  Syrian President Bashar Al Assad (C) leads an emergency cabinet meeting in the capital, Damascus. EPA

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  Hundreds of people were killed as they slept. Abd Almajed Alkarh for The National

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  Rescue teams search for survivors in Idlib, Syria. Abd Almajed Alkarh for The National

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  Rescue teams look for survivors under the rubble of a collapsed building in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo. AFP

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  A desperate search for survivors in Aleppo. AFP

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  Despair in Diyarbakir, south-eastern Turkey. AFP

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  An injured survivor is pulled from the rubble in Diyarbakir. AFP

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  Relatives face an anxious wait as emergency teams search for survivors in Diyarbakir. EPA

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  Damage caused by the earthquake in Idlib, north-western Syria. Moawia Atrash for The National

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  An injured child is plucked from the rubble of a building following the earthquake in rebel-held Azaz, Syria. Reuters

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  A Syrian Civil Defence team recovering victims of the earthquake in Idlib. Moawia Atrash for The National

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  Tremors were felt as far away as Cyprus, Egypt and Iraq. Moawia Atrash for The National

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  Destruction in the rebel-held town of Jandaris, Syria. Reuters

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  People search through rubble in Diyarbakir, Turkey. Reuters

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  A car is smashed up by fallen debris in Azaz. Reuters

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  Damaged vehicles after the powerful earthquake in Diyarbakir. EPA

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  Severe damage to a mosque in Malatya, Turkey. AP

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  Several buildings collapsed, trapping many people underneath the rubble. AP

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  Hospitals in north-eastern Syria were full of injured people. AFP

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  An injured man waits for treatment at Bab Al Hawa hospital in Syria's Idlib province. AFP

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  A car is buried underneath the rubble of a collapsed building in Azmarin, a town in Syria's Idlib province. AP

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  Rescuers search for victims as an ambulance waits. AFP

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  An injured child awaits treatment at Bab Al Hawa hospital. AFP

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  Rescuers search through the rubble for survivors. EPA

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  The US Geological Survey said the quake began at 4.17am local time. EPA

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  People at the site of a collapsed building. EPA

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  The earthquake in Turkey caused widespread destruction. AP

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  People gather around a collapsed building in Pazarcik, in Turkey's Kahramanmaras province. AP

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  At least 130 buildings collapsed in the Turkish city of Malatya. Reuters

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  Rescuers search for victims in Diyarbakir. AFP

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  Rescuers carry a victim at the site of a collapsed building in Hama, Syria. AFP

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  Rescuers search for survivors in Hama. AFP

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  Rescuers carry a victim pulled out from under the rubble of an eight-storey building. AFP

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  Damaged buildings in Hama. The aftershocks of the quake were felt in Syria and other neighbouring countries. Reuters

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  A Syrian Civil Defence representative said the situation in the city was catastrophic. Reuters

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  The death toll is expected to rise in Turkey and Syria. Reuters

Follow the latest on the earthquake in Turkey

Members of America's large Turkish and Syrian communities are trying desperately to learn news of loved ones who may have been affected by the 7.8 magnitude earthquake, which has killed more than 5,000 people.

In Dayton, Ohio, Eldar Muradov, the president of Osman Gazi Mosque, woke up on Monday to learn that the devastating quake had toppled buildings across central and southern Turkey.

“I heard the news this morning, so we have set up a GoFundMe appeal. This is all we can do,” Mr Muradov told The National.

Within a day of opening the fundraising site, more than $85,000 in donations had poured in.

“We’ll send the money to Kizilay [the Turkish Red Crescent] to help with reconstruction and humanitarian assistance,” Mr Muradov said.

“You know, it’s winter so people need blankets, food and shelter. And of course, most importantly, find people that are still under the rubble and hopefully are still alive.”

Dozens of cities across the Midwest are home to Turkish and Syrian immigrants who contribute significantly to medical, logistics and food services industries, and others.

Turkey has always been a helping hand to people in need, and now it needs urgent help

Betel Yuruk,
New York-based Turkish journalist

In recent years, refugees fleeing the war in Syria have helped to establish vibrant communities in places such as Dearborn, Michigan, and Columbus, Ohio.

Betul Yuruk, a Turkish journalist in New York, said the earthquake was one of the worst disasters in Turkish history, unlike anything since the 1999 Izmit earthquake that killed some 18,000 people.

“Turkish people are racing against time and hypothermia to save thousands of its people in freezing temperatures,” she told The National.

“Turkey has always been a helping hand to people in need and now it needs urgent help.”

Hundreds of buildings were destroyed in Monday's earthquake, with many people feared trapped under the rubble.

The quake and scores of aftershocks, one of which was almost as potent as the original earthquake, was felt across the region in Lebanon, Cyprus and Iraq, and as far away as Greenland.

The epicentre was just north of Turkey's border city of Gaziantep, in the province of Kahramanmaras, but eight provinces have been affected. The ripples ran across the border into north-west Syria.

Ayman Al Chihabi, a Syrian American in Aleppo, told The National that the quake was “intense”.

“It lasted for about 90 seconds. Many informal settlements collapsed on the eastern part of the city, many lives lost and hundreds of casualties,” Mr Al Chihabi said.

“The entire city is still in panic, people in the streets fearing the expected aftershocks.”

Raghad Ismail, a Syrian toddler who was rescued from rubble of a collapsed building after the earthquake, sits on her uncle's lap at his home in rebel-held Azaz, Syria. Reuters

Halil Demir, Executive Director of the Zakat Foundation of America, arrived in Turkey on Tuesday to assess the situation on the ground.

“We plan on distributing emergency relief kits, hygiene kits, blankets, warm meals and cash stipends. Mr Demir will first tend to his family members,” said Amina Demir, the foundation's chief operating officer.

Ms Demir told The National that she hoped the international community provides significant help to Turkey, a country that has offered shelter to millions of refugees from Syria in recent years.

Sarah Naji, a Syrian-American business owner in Philadelphia who travels to Turkey frequently to buy products, said her family in Damascus were safe.

“My family group chat immediately started buzzing. We got news that everyone in our family was safe but our hearts were still broken for our people,” Ms Naji told The National.

“Syria has suffered so much loss and destruction over the last 10-plus years. They don’t deserve more pain.”

For Ms Naji, who said she had not been able to return to Syria since 2010 because of the war, the earthquake compounded a sense of “helplessness” over deteriorating conditions in her homeland.

Her family has long worked with the Syrian American Medical Society, which sends medical missions to the country, and she has helped to lead fundraising and clothing donations appeals.

Ms Naji, who frequently uses her social media platforms to draw attention to the Syrian cause, urges others to continue sharing news about the earthquake.

“I don’t want people to continue on with their days and forget about this tragedy, I want them to speak up and if they’re able to help, I want them to do so.”

Lina Attar, an Aleppo native who now lives in Chicago, has spent the last 12 hours desperately trying to reach family in Syria and colleagues across the affected areas of Turkey.

Ms Attar runs the Karam Foundation, a non-profit that helps to lift up young Syrian refugees in Turkey and the US.

The organisation has a base in Hatay province, near the quake's epicentre.

Ms Attar's team in Turkey is for the most part safe, but it has been a challenging night.

“We still have one person that we are checking on for her safety,” she said.

“The communications in Turkey right now is very spotty, the internet is very spotty, as well as the phone communications.”

While relieved that her team is for the most part safe, she fears the long-term effects the earthquake may have on the staff, which comprises Syrian refugees who have already endured more than a decade of violence and instability back home, only to find themselves confronted with another life-altering tragedy.

“I’m just thinking about the traumatic effects of this on our students who have been through so much trauma, witnessing violence, experiencing displacement, not feeling belonging and all of the discrimination that they faced in their journeys,” Ms Attar said.

“And now to actually go through a night like last night, and reliving all of their past trauma, there's a lot of long-term work to be done.”

The Karam Foundation’s centre in Hatay survived the earthquake with only minimal damage and has been opened up to the community.