Gaziantep, Turkey – After a sequence of earthquakes and aftershocks in Turkey and Syria, many tried to flee the devastated metropolis of Gaziantep, positioned about 33km (20 miles) from the epicentre.

With the airport and plenty of roads exterior town blocked, those that have been unable to depart took refuge on Tuesday in purchasing malls, stadiums, mosques and neighborhood centres.

“After I considered leaving town, it was already too late,” 25-year-old Yunus Koser instructed Al Jazeera. Koser, who took shelter in Sih Fetullah sq. along with his mom and brother, was working an evening shift within the Ibrahimli neighbourhood – one of many metropolis’s most affected areas – when the primary earthquake hit early on Monday.

He mentioned he instantly ran dwelling via the chaos that had overtaken the streets, solely to search out that his home’s partitions have been broken. When the second earthquake hit, Koser feared that his dwelling was not secure.

“So, we most popular to camp within the open air, with dozens of different households,” he mentioned.

“Sitting subsequent to one another, round a fireplace, makes the scenario barely extra bearable, extra humane.”

A day after the earthquakes shook southeastern Turkey and northwestern Syria, killing 1000’s, rescue operations have been beneath method.

The demise toll surpassed 7,000 late on Tuesday and is predicted to proceed to rise. Many in want are nonetheless remoted resulting from frigid temperatures and blocked roads, stopping rescue groups from reaching the affected areas.

‘So far as doable’

Mariia Honcharuk, 24, a Ukrainian refugee residing in Gaziantep, mentioned that she was nonetheless attempting to depart town.

“We try to go so far as doable till the scenario calms down,” she mentioned.

On Monday, Honcharuk rapidly packed a couple of garments in a bag and hopped on the primary bus to Antalya, however the bus station was full of individuals attempting to flee town.

When she lastly managed to get a ticket, she obtained caught on the highway to Adana.  “We needed to take one other highway as a result of the primary one was blocked, so it took way more time than regular,” Honcharuk mentioned.

“Then, we have been simply ready in a site visitors jam the entire evening and morning in Nurdagi [the epicentre of the earthquake], and we needed to discover another method south.”

Yahaya Hassan Labaran, a Nigerian civil engineering PhD scholar at Gaziantep College, mentioned that overseas college students residing alone have been panic-struck by the catastrophe.

“When the earthquake occurred, they instructed us to depart our dormitory instantly, with out figuring out if we’d return,” Labaran mentioned, including that being caught in a short lived shelter with a whole lot of different individuals, with restricted meals and water, was emotionally draining.

“I even left my passport within the constructing. I’ve been attempting to remember it, as a result of I wish to attain my dwelling nation, however safety received’t let me inside. I simply wish to return dwelling, I’ve by no means seen a catastrophe like this.”

Specialists feard that Monday’s earthquakes might compound the lack of the area’s cultural legacy – Turkey’s authorities has mentioned greater than 5,600 buildings in Turkey have been destroyed. On Tuesday, UNESCO warned that a number of World Heritage Websites, recognized by the United Nations company for his or her cultural, historic, scientific and different types of significance, may need been broken.

After the primary earthquake, Emad al-Mustafa jumped in his automotive along with his spouse and 4 kids. Though his home, positioned close to Sanko Park, was not broken by the quake, he not believed it’s secure to be there.

“Once we realised there was no water, no electrical energy, no security in our constructing, we determined to go,” al-Mustafa mentioned by phone as he travelled to Eskisehir, a metropolis distant from the broken areas. “However I want I hadn’t taken that automotive journey. What we noticed alongside the best way was simply rubbles and full devastation, like an apocalypse film.”