--- description: The first earthquake, which was recorded at magnitude 7.8, hit at 4:17 a.m. local time in the city of Gaziantep in south Turkey as families slept. title: Photos Show Miraculous Survival Amid Devastating Turkey Earthquakes image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blted07247f90aafae8/698a3a1a86f68ea0a46f2233/earthquake-turkey-2023-05.jpg?branch=production --- * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Natural Disasters](/tag/natural-disasters/) ## Natural Disasters Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Photos Show Miraculous Survival Alongside Devastation After Earthquakes in Middle East Updated: Jan 22, 2026 7:48 AM CUTPublished: Feb 6, 2023 4:34 PM CUT  Rescuers carry a girl from a collapsed building following an earthquake in Diyarbakir, Turkey on February 6, 2023. Rescuers carry a girl from a collapsed building following an earthquake in Diyarbakir, Turkey on February 6, 2023.Sertac Kayar—Reuters by [Simmone Shah](/author/simmone-shah/) and [Photo editing by Katherine Pomerantz](/author/katherine-pomerantz/) Updated: Jan 22, 2026 7:48 AM CUTPublished: Feb 6, 2023 4:34 PM CUT Two devastating earthquakes [hit Turkey and Syria in quick succession early Monday](https://time.com/6253208/turkey-earthquake-syria-updates/ "undefined"), leaving thousands dead and even more injured. The first earthquake, which was recorded at magnitude 7.8, hit at 4:17 a.m. local time in the city of Gaziantep in south Turkey as families slept. It was one of the most powerful earthquakes in the region in at least a century. Hours later, a 7.5-magnitude quake hit the Kahramanmaras province as rescuers worked to search for survivors. “We used our phone’s flashlight so we could get dressed, and hurried out of the house. Anyone able to save themselves has now fled somewhere. I have relatives in Kahramanmaraş, their houses were destroyed,” Sinan Şahan, a tradesperson in Gaziantep, told [The _Guardian_.](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/feb/06/turkey-earthquake-2023-gaziantep "undefined") Photos show entire blocks demolished. In some areas, only one building was left standing while the rest were turned to rubble. In others, photos showed neighborhoods where only one building was destroyed, surrounded by others that had survived the temblors.  The earthquakes that struck early Monday, Feb. 6 were some of the biggest in the region in a century.Lon Tweeten–TIME “There are hundreds of collapsed buildings here, this is not an exaggeration, literally hundreds,” Hasan Durkal, an academic living in Hatay province in Turkey’s far southwest, told the [Wall Street _Journal_](https://www.wsj.com/articles/powerful-earthquake-strikes-turkey-and-syria-killing-more-than-1-300-people-11675680084 "undefined"). “I am afraid we lost them,” he said of family members who were trapped. “We can’t do much.” Aftershocks were felt as far as Lebanon, Greece, and Cyprus. Hundreds of people have died in northern Syria, according to the government’s health ministry. Millions of refugees are still displaced in the region from the Syrian Civil War. Turkey sits on the Anatolian Plate, which borders two major fault lines. Governments around the world have promised aid where those still reeling from the devastation have had to begin the difficult work of rescuing those trapped under the rubble. “There was screaming everywhere,” one 30-year-old man in Diyarbakir told [Reuters](https://www.reuters.com/article/turkey-quake-syria/major-earthquake-strikes-turkey-syria-hundreds-dead-many-trapped-idINKBN2UG0BS "undefined"). “I started pulling rocks away with my hands. We pulled out the injured with friends, but the screaming didn’t stop. Then the \[rescue\] teams came.”  People mourn as rescue efforts continue at collapsed building in Hatay, Turkey.Ercin Erturk—Anadolu Agency/Getty Images  An aerial view of collapsed buildings in Hatay, Turkey.Ercin Erturk—Anadolu Agency/Getty Images  Mehmet Emin Ataoglu is rescued from the rubble of 6-story building in Hatay, Turkey.2023 Anadolu Agency  A damaged building in Adana, TurkeyOguz Yeter—Anadolu Agency/Getty Images  Collapsed buildings in the town of Harem near the Turkish border, Idlib province, Syria.Ghaith Alsayed—AP  People are seen among the dust cloud formed after a building collapsed in the aftershock in Kahramanmaras.Kemal Ceylan—Anadolu Agency/Getty Images  Residents retrieve an injured girl from the rubble of a collapsed building following an earthquake in the town of Jandaris, in the countryside of Syria's northwestern city of Afrin.Rami Al Sayed—AFP/Getty Images  A family sits outside their home in Beirut following an earthquake that hit neighboring Turkey.Hussein Malla—AP  A view of a damaged building in Adana, Turkey.Oguz Yeter—Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)  An injured man is helped by a resident to slide out of the rubble of a collapsed building following an earthquake in the town of Jandaris, Syria.Rami Al Sayed—AFP/Getty Images  An aerial view of shipping containers on fire after an the earthquakes in Hatay, Turkey.Murat Sengul—Anadolu Agency/Getty Images  Syrian civilians and members of the White Helmets conduct search and rescue operations in the rubble of a collapsed building in Syria.Anas Alkharboutli—picture alliance/Getty Images  Civil defense workers and residents search through the rubble of collapsed buildings in the town of Harem near the Turkish border, Idlib province, Syria.Ghaith Alsayed—AP  Residents rescue a child from the rubble of a collapsed building following an earthquake in the town of Jandaris, Syria.Rami Al Sayed—AFP/Getty Images  Civil defense workers and security forces carry an earthquake victim as they search through the wreckage of collapsed buildings in Hama, Syria.Omar Sanadik—AP  Personnel conduct search and rescue operations in Malatya, Turkey.Hakan Burak Altunoz—Anadolu Agency/Getty Images ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/6253212/turkey-earthquake-syria-photos/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/6253212/turkey-earthquake-syria-photos/"},"headline":"Photos Show Miraculous Survival Alongside Devastation After Earthquakes in Middle East","datePublished":"2023-02-06T16:34:36.000Z","dateModified":"2026-01-22T07:48:40.000Z","description":"The first earthquake hit at 4:17 a.m. local time in south Turkey as families slept.","url":"https://time.com/6253212/turkey-earthquake-syria-photos/","keywords":["Natural Disasters","photography","Photo","LightBox","News Team"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blted07247f90aafae8/698a3a1a86f68ea0a46f2233/earthquake-turkey-2023-05.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Simmone Shah","jobTitle":"Reporter","url":"https://time.com/author/simmone-shah/"},{"@type":"Person","name":"Photo editing by Katherine Pomerantz"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blted07247f90aafae8/698a3a1a86f68ea0a46f2233/earthquake-turkey-2023-05.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"earthquake-turkey-2023-05","caption":"Mehmet Emin Ataoglu is rescued from the rubble of 6-story building in Hatay, Turkey.","creditText":"","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/natural-disasters/","name":"Natural Disasters"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/6253212/turkey-earthquake-syria-photos/","name":"Photos Show Miraculous Survival Alongside Devastation After Earthquakes in Middle East"}}]}] ```