The whole nation has united to help their neighbors in the south of the country after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake centered in the Pazarcık district of Türkiye's Kahramanmaraş struck at 4.17 a.m. local time (1:17 a.m. GMT) on Monday at a depth of 7 kilometers (4.3 miles), killing over 3,000 people and injuring over 15,000 in the provinces of Malatya, Şanlıurfa, Osmaniye and Diyarbakır.
Edirne
Under the leadership of the Edirne Governor's Office, clothing, food, blankets and personal hygiene items were brought to Mimar Sinan Sports Hall in the aid campaign coordinated by the Disaster and Emergency Management Authority's (AFAD) provincial directorate in the northwest province.
The campaign launched by Edirne Municipality for aid to be sent to the earthquake zone is ongoing. The items donated at the Atatürk Cultural Center and the Municipal Conservatory were sorted and packaged by the municipality personnel. Blood donations are being accepted at three different points by the Turkish Red Crescent (Kızılay) Blood Donation Center in Edirne.
Citizens can bring donations to the Keşan High School Sports Hall within the scope of the campaign initiated by the district governorship and municipality in the Keşan district.
In the post on the municipality's social media account, it expressed: "What can we say about a small child sending us both his toy and his pocket money to send it to the earthquake zone? How can we explain this sensitivity, this benevolence? We thank you for your big heart."
Explaining they started a donation campaign through the Keşan Goodness Health and Education Foundation (KİSEV), Keşan Mayor Mustafa Helvacıoğlu said, "We will accept financial donations that will be forwarded to the AFAD's accounts via KİSEV. Today is the time for unity and solidarity."
Within the scope of the campaign initiated by Kapaklı Municipality, citizens delivered diapers, blankets, electric heaters, cleaning products, dry food goods and other items to donation points.
Tekirdağ Mayor Mustafa Çetin stated that the country is heartbroken by the disaster and that aid will be sent to the earthquake areas as quickly as possible.
Çetin said that they had already sent the Kapaklı Municipality Mobile Catering Vehicle to the earthquake region. "The earthquake saddened us deeply, as it did everyone else. At the moment, all of Kapaklı has become one heart. In a short time, tens of thousands of our citizens answered our call for aid. The support is growing like an avalanche, we are hopeful with our district governorship to send a truck of aid relief to earthquake zones tonight. As a nation, we will join hands and heal all of our nation's wounds," he added.
Tekirdağ Namık Kemal University (NKU) Marmaraereğlisi Vocational School students also collected aid to be delivered to those in need. Aid boxes containing 70 pairs of boots, coats, gloves, scarves, berets, sweaters and socks, collected with the support of the students, were delivered to the Marmaraereğlisi District Governor's Office.
The aid campaign continues in the Hayrabolu district, where its mayor, Osman Inan, used his social media account to invite all citizens to support the efforts.
Municipalities, public institutions and political parties have all started aid campaigns in the northwest city of Kırklareli. Citizens brought items to donate, especially clothes, food, blankets and personal hygiene products, to the designated points.
The collected aid is being sent to the earthquake zone by trucks. So far, 10 trucks of aid have been sent to the hardest-hit areas from the city.
After two severe earthquakes in Kahramanmaraş yesterday, nine hours apart, citizens in the Black Sea province of Trabzon flocked to blood donation centers. Likewise, long lines of citizens mobilized to bring many products such as clothing, dry food, blankets and diapers to the Disaster Coordination Centers for the aid campaign.
For the people of Trabzon who want to support the earthquake victims, Hamamizade İhsan Bey Cultural Center in Ortahisar district and Disaster Coordination Centers were established by the district governor's office. Necessary materials such as electric heaters, diapers, baby food, hygiene and cleaning products, unused underwear and outerwear, and food, which are first needed in disaster areas, started to be collected in the mentioned Disaster Coordination Centers. An intense mobilization by citizens was seen.
Bursa Metropolitan Municipality sent 15 construction machines and 50 personnel to Gaziantep for the removal of the debris caused by the two massive earthquakes.
Bursa Governor Yakup Canbolat and Metropolitan Mayor Alinur Aktaş were assigned by the Ministry of Interior in Gaziantep to coordinate the aid mobilization.
Bursa Metropolitan Municipality, which sent five vehicles and 22 firefighters to Malatya for search and rescue efforts right after the earthquake, sent five trucks of drinking water, one truck of food and a mobile kitchen from Bursa Park, Garden, Social and Cultural Services (BURFAŞ) to Gaziantep with 45 personnel.
Due to the lack of vehicles and equipment to remove debris, 15 vehicles from the city's Transportation Department, including a backhoe, two tire excavators, five crawler excavators, a frontloader, a bulldozer and five trucks, set off for Gaziantep with 50 personnel Monday evening.
The construction equipment and personnel, which have reached the region and started to be used for debris removal, will serve in double shifts on a 24-hour basis and will stay in the area until the mayhem from the quake has subsided.
On the other hand, a team of 150 volunteers working in the metropolitan municipality and affiliated companies specializing in handling debris and logistics, and experienced in setting up tents, also arrived in Malatya to lend a hand.
Food and other much-needed items were brought to the Havza Municipality Cultural Center by citizens in the northern province as part of the campaign organized by the Havza District Governorate and Havza Municipality to support the aid work being carried out under the coordination of the Samsun Governorship and the Provincial Disaster and Emergency Directorate.
The items were packed by volunteers and loaded onto the truck. Later, the aid truck was sent to the Elbistan district of Kahramanmaraş and prayers were offered for those affected by the quake.
Nayman thanked everyone who supported the efforts to get the aid truck on its way quickly, wished God's mercy to those who lost their lives in the earthquake and a speedy recovery to the injured.
Özdemir also said that they were able to send the aid truck quickly thanks to the quick response of concerned citizens. "I hope our second truck will be on the road tomorrow. I thank all our people for their sensitivity. I wish the mercy of my Lord to those who lost their lives in the disaster we experienced and a speedy recovery to the injured," he added.
In the Central Anatolian city of Konya's Meram District Municipality, Lalebahçe Sports Facility was designated as an earthquake aid collection area, and locals rushed to lend a hand.
While aid campaigns were launched all over the country for earthquake victims, the images in Konya touched the hearts of everyone. Within the framework of the aid campaign organized jointly by the city, citizens flocked to the donation sites. Items such as blankets, winter clothes, food parcels, heaters, liquid and solid soaps, paper towels and backpacks were brought in.
Making a statement at the aid collection area, Konya Provincial Chairperson Hasan Angı said: "Condolences to all of Türkiye. We still have citizens waiting to be rescued under the rubble and there are injured people. May my Lord not allow such pain to be seen again. Our brothers in the region are in mourning. All of Türkiye is rushing to meet their needs."
"We sent out two more trucks, which we filled with relief materials brought by our fellow citizens, to the earthquake zones. May my Lord not let it happen again."
Citizens who delivered items to help the earthquake victims said that they were very sad and expressed they wanted to offer support to share the burden of the earthquake victims' pain.
Donations are still being accepted at the Lalebahçe Sports Facility, the Karatay Sports and Congress Center and Selçuklu Municipality International Sports Hall within the framework of the campaign launched by the metropolitan and central district municipalities in Konya.
