In Search for Human Dignity
How the catastrophic 2023 Turkey-Syria earthquakes and their aftershocks impacted the lives of locals, and all that the city meant to them.
German and Turkish translations of this StoryMap are available by clicking on the versions in the respective languages below.
The city of Antakya before February 6, 2023. © Jens Kreinath
At 4:17 a.m. on February 6, 2023, a devastating earthquake hit southern Turkey and northern Syria, followed by a second earthquake in the early afternoon hours at 1:24 p.m. About half a million people living in the city lost family members, homes, businesses, and almost all their belongings within seconds. Several more crippling earthquakes would rock the remains of Antakya for weeks to come.
People died because of the buildings, not because of the earthquake, is a common survivors' saying. Over the following weeks, more and more fields of newly established and hastily improvised mass graveyards were filled. Large portions of the population left the city. Some survived the remaining winter months without running water in scanty tents or makeshift container cities.
Dusty roads and uninhabited neighborhoods were filled with the constant noise of excavators and towering trucks. They carried concrete debris out of the city, dumping all the personal remnants of its previous inhabitants into garbage dumps.
In the midst of demolition and reconstruction, the residents of Antakya attempt to rebuild their lives. © Jens Kreinath.
Hundreds of thousands had to survive the first days in their cars at freezing temperatures and the following weeks in improvised tents near the ruins of Antakya without access to running water, electricity, or any other material infrastructure. Since many had no other place to go, they continue to live next to the rubble of their demolished houses and neighborhoods.
Antakya as a living city has vanished now. It slowly transformed into a ghost town where any point of orientation and even the most distant memories of familiar spaces were lost forever.
A stark difference between completely razed buildings totaled by the earthquake and intact multistory structures just blocks away. © Jens Kreinath.
The earthquakes and their continuing aftershocks left behind a death toll substantially greater than the officially declared count of about 53,000 in total and more than 20,000 for Antakya alone and resulting in the obliteration of the historical part of the city. The long-term impact of this earthquake on the diverse local population is immense, with the sheer number of the now homeless, jobless, and disabled and those being impacted counting in the millions; its resolution remains a complex undertaking that locals and their governments must address in the years to come.
All that remains of the City Library in the Cumhuriyet Mahallesi, Antakya © Jens Kreinath
Earthquake #1: 4:17 a.m. TRT [1:17 UTC], February 6, 2023
7.8 magnitude*. The first earthquake devastating Antakya also hit whole regions of southern Turkey and northern Syria. This was immediately followed by three very strong aftershocks with 5.7, 6.7, and 5.6 magnitudes within the first half hour and two more before the next major earthquake in the early afternoon. In a sudden moment, the earthquake erased the whole fabric of a way of life, leaving hundreds of thousands, if not millions, with only the pain of what happened to them.
Earthquake #2: 1:24 p.m. TRT [10:24 UTC], February 6, 2023
7.7 magnitude. This earthquake, like the first one, was felt across Turkey and the eastern Mediterranean. It was followed by ten strong aftershocks throughout the remainder of the afternoon and early evening, succeeded by five further ones over the following two days. During the first days, the immediate media attention was high. Emergency help and rescue teams arrived from many parts of the world. However, in some regions, no governmental aid arrived for days or weeks, if not months.
Government Aid Dispensed: February 9, 2023
A national disaster has never been declared for this region. For three days after the deadly earthquakes, no government aid was provided to nearly half a million people affected in the region around Antakya. In the days before the government intervened, many had to rescue their loved ones from underneath the rubble, often with their own hands. Numerous deaths could have been prevented if immediate governmental aid had been available.
Earthquake #3: 8:04 p.m. TRT [17:04 UTC], February 20, 2023
6.3 magnitude. At this time, hastily constructed graveyards and temporary living shelters filled the spaces between the remains of buildings. The scale of death and despair caused by these double earthquakes, the continuing governmental negligence, and the ongoing aftershocks became apocalyptic. This was especially terrible for those who saw their houses collapsing in front of their eyes or heard the cries of their loved ones trapped in the rubble.
Earthquake #4: 12:04 p.m. TRT [9:04 UTC], February 27, 2023
5.2 magnitude. . In February alone, with this being the last one for that month, the region experienced over twenty strong aftershocks, each measuring above 5.0 on the Richter scale — a level classified as a middle strong to strong earthquake or aftershock. During the first months following the initial earthquake, more than forty such strong aftershocks were recorded. Minor aftershocks also persisted, with over 30,000 detected in the first three months, and exceeding 50,000 within nine months after the initial quake.
These earthquakes and their aftershocks ravaged 85% of Antakya. Only a few scattered houses remained standing, surrounded by a wasteland of flattened ground and mangled concrete structures. Numerous families eventually had to move with their few remaining belongings to other places in Turkey; staying there with their family members or relatives for the coming months if they had the means. Those who had no other place to go had to stay in unsustainable tents or containers for more than a year after these earthquakes, or even longer.
*The Richter scale, developed in 1935, is a logarithmic scale and measures the magnitude of an earthquake by analyzing ground motion, physical effects, and the amplitude of seismic waves. It assigns a numerical value in decimal form to quantify the earthquake's size, meaning that each whole number increase in magnitude represents a 10-fold increase in the energy released by an earthquake. (United States Geological Survey).
The interactive map below provides a firsthand tour of the remains of Antakya through images taken six months after the devastating earthquakes in August 2023 and some two years after it on the second year of commemoration in February 2025. Please feel free to scroll down through the points and click on any images to view them in full screen. The right arrows next to some images indicate a series of photographs, included to show multiple angles of the wreckage.
The number of each photo(s) on the map represents the location where it was taken.
Remains of the Habib’i Neccar Camii
The earthquakes destroyed historic and contemporary architecture, including the oldest and most iconic mosque in the city, the Habib’i Neccar Camii.
Excavation in progress
Excavators tear down one collapsed building after another, turning ruins into rubble.
Remains of the Rum-Orthodox Church
A smaller community within Antakya, the Rum-Orthodox Christians were embedded within the local culture and now face a dire situation.
Junkyard of crushed cars
Vehicles destroyed in the earthquakes are piled up at the edge of the city.
Damage to the Antakya Municipal Office
The municipal building was impacted by the earthquakes in February 2023, but remains standing.
A new landscape
Gravel and concrete are the only remnants of the former structures disrupted by the earthquakes and flattened by the excavators.
Mangled structural remains
The ruins of this building show just how powerful Antakya's earthquakes really were.
Container cities
Visible from the main road, these makeshift container cities were an attempt by the Turkish government to provide housing for select survivors.
Business continues in the Uzun Çarşı
The bazaar's vendors continue to advertise their wares next to rubble and debris. The Uzun Çarşı has been a thriving part of the city since the 12th century. Locals and tourists alike can find textiles, spices, housewares, and more.
Tents cities near the Habib’i Neccar Camii
Although the Habib’i Neccar Camii was prioritized for restoration after the disaster, citizens without anywhere to go set up temporary shelters outside of the iconic mosque.
The place he used to call home
A longtime resident of Antakya looks upon the fallen structure he used to call home.
A deadly angle
The double earthquakes and months of aftershocks tipped entire buildings like grass blown by the wind.
A view of historic downtown
The once picturesque district of Antakya showcasing the centuries of impressive history is now only whole within the minds of visitors who gazed upon the area before February 2023.
Up close and personal
All over Antakya, these chunks of rubble are all that remain of entire buildings.
The former Liwan Hotel
Once a beautiful travelling destination located in a restored 1920s building, the Liwan Hotel was destroyed in seconds.
For rent
A storefront still offers up a "for rent" sign while the window's reflection highlights piles of rubble.
Stacked like paper
Thick slabs of concrete, most likely former foundations or exterior walls, are piled on top of each other.
Another historic structure devastated
This former building, located within the oldest district of Antakya, will most likely be condemned and razed.
Cleanup crew
Construction teams work to clear away foundations, trash, and other reminders of Antakya before the disaster.
Leaving the city
Excavation trucks full of twisted metal and cement carry their loads away from populated areas.
The Hatay State National Assembly Building
Linked to the origins of Hatay as a state, this building and its history crumbled in the face of such devastating earthquakes.
The bus stop
Spared by the destruction, a bus stop sits empty, awaiting passengers that will never arrive.
Fractured by the earthquake
A now abandoned building was gutted but left standing by the earthquakes.
Bridge over the River Orontes
This pedestrian bridge crossing the River Orontes in Antakya, once a hotspot for tourism, is too dangerous to come near.
A new reality
By now, vast cityscapes are flattened to dust and numerous neighborhoods are not recognizable anymore. With their vibrant flair and vivid memory being erased, the now historical photographs of recent times have become the only means to remember the space of the past.
“We have seen the gates of hell being opened in front of our eyes.”
Too many lives were lost; too many houses, settlements, and buildings were decimated. Sites of social gatherings and shared religious belonging no longer exist, with numerous members of the local communities having perished or dispersed to other parts of Turkey and the world. The locals of Antakya are still living in inhumane conditions on a day-to-day basis.
The people who worked and lived in Antakya are now in danger of losing their history, identity, and memory due to the lack of infrastructures and the material resources that these may provide.
Despite the clear adversity, it is reiterated with a tone of resilience that Antakya had been destroyed by several earthquakes, but it shall rise again.
The image of Antakya as a multicultural city with interreligious ties still looms strong in the imagination of the earthquake survivors.
Countless members of the different ethnic and religious communities collaborate to rebuild the city of Antakya as they reimagine it from the past.
Captured at the Uğur Mumcu (1942–1993) Memorial in Antakya on the rainy night of Wednesday, February 5, 2025, this photograph solemnly depicts a quiet vigil. The gathering honors the lost lives and marks the second anniversary of the devastating earthquake that struck the city. Inscribed words, “We have not forgotten” and “We will not forget,” echo the sense of lasting loss and its enduring remembrance.
Updates on the recent developments leading up to the commemoration on February 5, 2025, and the ongoing efforts to rebuild the city and its communities will be provided soon. These updates will include brief descriptions of reliable projects and initiatives I (Jens Kreinath) visited or directly learned about during my February 2025 visit. Links to their websites and information on how to support their fundraising efforts will also be included.
To join me in my attempts in the rebuilding of local communities, access the fundraiser through this hyperlink .
For accounts of my previous work and interviews in Wichita regarding the situation in Antakya, refer to The Sunflower newspaper articles published on February 19 , February 21 , and February 28 , 2023 , or the WSU News on November 18, 2024 .
If you would like to provide feedback or share your own story, information about additional projects, or historical and recent photographs, please contact me at: Jens.Kreinath@wichita.edu .
