Four days after two massive earthquakes rocked Türkiye's southeastern provinces, hope and unity in the nation prevail as many victims are transported to safer areas by national rescue teams and volunteers both from the country and around the world, including Japan, Australia and the U.S.

Many hoteliers, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and municipalities have joined forces across the nation and are continuing to provide their support for the worst-affected areas.

Erzurum

A hotel in Palandöken, one of eastern Erzurum province's most popular winter tourism centers, opened its doors free of charge to 11 relatives of Malatya earthquake victims.

The survivors traveled to Erzurum with a tour company that had brought aid to their city from Kars.

Earthquake victim Izzet Şanlı told Anadolu Agency (AA) that he had experienced the 1999 Gölcük earthquake in Istanbul before and that this earthquake was both longer and way more frightening than the previous disaster.

Stating that most of the buildings were destroyed in the second earthquake that struck the Elbistan district of Kahramanmaraş, Şanlı said that everyone was shocked when the second earthquake occurred. He described the current scene, saying there was snow and chaos everywhere.

Another earthquake survivor, Rukiye Doğruyol, shared that she made a mistake and entered the house right before the second earthquake.

Sharing that most of the apartments in Malatya were damaged, Doğruyol said that earthquake survivors immediately started sharing everything they had in the first hours.

Resettled to Antalya

Some 312 earthquake victims who were evacuated from Gaziantep due to the earthquake were brought to Antalya Airport by a private passenger plane. Several of them were taken to the hotel in the Kemer district, while others stayed with their relatives.

The earthquake caused massive destruction and directly affected at least 13.5 million people in Türkiye. It was reported that some 19,400 rooms in hotels and the guesthouses of public institutions and organizations in Antalya were set up for earthquake victims.

Istanbul fully mobilized

Thousands of volunteer citizens, men, women, young and old, even children, are working around the clock to prepare emergency supplies at the city's collection points to be delivered to the affected areas. Thirty-nine district municipalities in Istanbul have turned large donation areas, including sports complexes, marriage offices and culture and art centers.

To help the victims as much as possible, several volunteers delivered packages containing emergency supplies, especially food, hygiene products, winter clothes and products for heating and shelter, to the centers established in Pendik, Tuzla, Kartal, Maltepe, Kadıköy, Üsküdar, Bağcılar and Bahçelievler and other districts.

Abdullah Atsever, a volunteer at the aid collection center in Pendik, said: "We came to help. We couldn't go to Hatay or Adana, we said, let's come here instead of sitting at home. We were here last night too."

Meanwhile, 83 earthquake victims were brought to Istanbul by cargo planes of the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) and landed at Atatürk Airport on Wednesday.

The earthquake victims, including children, were welcomed by military personnel. They thanked the soldiers for their support.

Similarly, Antakya-born Melis Narin, whose family was affected by the earthquake in her hometown in Hatay province, said that some of her relatives were stuck under the rubble while she was lucky to arrive in Istanbul the day before the earthquake for her father's check-up.

"I am from Antakya, I was born and grew up there. I spent 27 years there. My relatives, friends, everything is there. Right now, my childhood is in ruins," Narin lamented.

Another citizen, Rıza Dönmez, who was extremely grateful that everyone in his immediate family is safe, said they were already planning to move to Kocaeli and therefore they were en route to Istanbul at the time of the earthquake.

Düzce

On Thursday, with the evacuation organized by Düzce Municipality, 130 disaster victims also arrived in the city in northern Türkiye, Ihlas News Agency (IHA) reported.

Izmir

Meanwhile, Izmir's Governor Yavuz Köşger said in a statement that Izmir will welcome 4,000 survivors from Gaziantep and provide them shelter. Noting that the whole country is in mourning after the tragic events, he noted that Izmir experienced the same agony in 2020 and stands alongside the victims.

The Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) reported that as of 11:38 a.m. Thursday, 28,044 people had been evacuated from the provinces affected by the Kahramanmaraş-centered earthquakes by road, rail and air.