Jacqueline Rosa Cheti, a teacher from Joasaba, in the Santa Catarina Midwest, woke up early on Monday to closet doors slamming (6). Suddenly she was thrown out of bed and she heard the sound of an explosion. She thought it was an explosion. Then he realized that the building was collapsing.

According to Turkish authorities, a resident of Diyarbakir, a city in southeastern Turkey, was 300 km from the epicenter of the strongest earthquake recorded in the country since 1939. “Here, I already felt weaker tremors, including an earthquake in a neighboring city. Nothing in the intensity that we are experiencing today,” he says.

The family woke up from the earthquake. “We couldn’t stop getting up,” Jacqueline says. Photo: Arquivo PessoaL/ND

Two earthquakes occurred in Syria and Turkey with an interval of 9 hours. The epicenter was the border region between the two countries of Western Asia. Events with a magnitude of 7.8 on the Richter scale have killed more than 3,600 people – the search continues. Tremors were felt even in Greenland, such was their intensity.

During the first earthquake, the shocks lasted about 1 minute. “We have completely lost direction and meaning. It’s like severe dizziness, we couldn’t get up. We were thrown from one side to the other,” says a Turkish teacher who moved to the country nine years ago after meeting her now-Turkish husband.

Immediately, Jacqueline and her husband Reina Cetin took their two children – a 7-year-old girl and a 3-year-old baby – and went down to the yard of the condominium. Tensed, they remained at the entrance to the building for two hours before returning. With little news, they thought they were at the epicenter of the phenomenon. They had no idea that the situation was worse around Gaziantepe, 300 km from Diyarbakir.

The images show damage in Diyarbakir, Turkey. Video: Reproduction/Jacqueline Rose/Disclosure/ND

The family was not injured and suffered no material damage. The damage was recorded in the old districts of Diyarbakır – Jacqueline lives in the area of ​​the city, where construction began later.

“In the house of relatives who live in neighboring cities, the wall even cracked. My sister-in-law had a four-month-old baby in her arms. She was shaking so much that she dropped the baby,” says a teacher who teaches Turkish to Brazilians.

Uncertainty among residents

When they finally began to calm down, a second earthquake occurred in the region, but of lesser force. The apparitions left a trail of destruction in the municipality. Jacqueline noticed at least eight destroyed buildings in Diyarbakir. Some 3,471 buildings collapsed in the earthquake-hit area.

When talking with no data+ late that Monday afternoon (6) the teacher described a desolate and unsafe scenario. “There are small jolts. We feel a little dizzy and dizzy,” he says. She notices that the ground is still shaking as she watches the water in the aquarium sway. Or by the light of the house that flickers.

On the night of this Monday, the neighbors decided to stay away from the house. “[O prédio] it is empty, it has one or two lights burning in it, ”says Jacqueline. They decided to spend the night in cars, on the square located in the city center, or stay in shelters. There are also those who traveled inland.

As soon as the news of the tragedy reached Jacqueline’s family, who lives in Joasaba, her sister and parents contacted her in shock. “They were very worried. I said I was fine,” the teacher recalls. She decided to spend the night at home.

The number of victims exceeds 3600 people.

As of Monday night, more than 3,600 people were reported dead in the quake, according to an investigation by AFP. In Turkey, where the epicenter was recorded, at least 2,316 people have died, according to the latest report from the disaster management agency. Authorities added that more than 13,000 people were injured.

The WHO (World Health Organization) warned AFP that the death toll could be eight times higher.

In Syria, the earthquake killed at least 1,293 people and injured more than 2,400. The Syrian Ministry of Health has recorded 593 dead and 1,403 injured in areas controlled by the government of the war-torn country.

The White Helmets, which operate in rebel-controlled areas of Syria, report that at least 700 people have died and more than 1,050 have been injured in these areas.

“The situation is very serious, many people are still under the rubble of buildings,” said surgeon Majid Ibrahim from the Al-Rahma Hospital in the city of Darkush in northern Syria.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has declared seven days of mourning for the dead. “Our flag will be flown at half mast before sunset on Sunday,” he tweeted.

The UN General Assembly honored the memory of the victims of the earthquake with a minute of silence, and the Secretary General of the organization António Guterres expressed “deep sorrow”.

*According to the AFP agency.