Surviving the Shakes: Elif Guclu’s Insights into the 1999 Earthquake in Turkey

It was night time and everyone was sleeping. Suddenly everything started to shake and got destroyed really fast. With a magnitude of 7.6, the İzmit earthquake is one of the strongest earthquakes in Turkey’s history. Here, Elif Guclu is going to tell us her side of the story.

What did you do?

When it happened, it was nighttime and when we heard the noise, we woke up all panicked, we tried to stand or to sit on strong structures, but it was difficult due to the shaking. We went outside and took some money, water and some jackets even if it was summer. We directly went to a park near our house because we realized quickly that all the roads were blocked.

How would you describe the feeling?

It feels like the ground is moving, even though we were not at the epicentre, the feeling was really strong, and it felt like it lasted too long.

How long did it last?

It felt like it lasted hours when really it lasted less than a minute. The seconds were passing like minutes and the minutes like hours.

Do you still think about it today?

I mean, I still think about it, yes, but I do not think I have a trauma, but each earthquake hurts and because I come from a very seismic country you do not get used to it, but you understand it more. I consider myself lucky because I have never been through a loud one before.

Did you lose anything or anyone?

I did not lose anyone, and my house also was not affected by the earthquake, but the city was badly destroyed by this.

Do you think it will happen again?

Of course, because Türkiye is a seismic area and only a few parts like central Anatolia is not affected so yes it will happen, but the question is: are we ready?

Do you have family or friends living in a seismic area?

Most of my family lives in İstanbul, which is a very seismic area, and they are all aware of the risk of living there but, because it is not an unusual event, they are almost used to it. I keep myself informed daily and I am reassured by the fact that they know what to do.

If you could change anything about the way you decided to act during the earthquake, what would you have done differently?

I definitely would have taken valuable objects and our documents. We completely forgot to take them because our priority was to get out of our home as soon as possible.

This concludes the interview. Thank you for agreeing to this!

I hoped that it was useful and that you found it interesting!

Aleyna de Bonis / S4IT / EEB1 Uccle