Antakya

The Antakya Gastronomy Bazaar, featuring restaurants that celebrate local flavors in Hatay, is reuniting earthquake-affected tradespeople with their customers, fostering community and resilience.

The debris of historical buildings that collapsed during the Feb. 6, 2023 earthquake in the southern province of Antakya has been preserved at a cultural debris site. The separated parts will be used during the reconstruction of these structures.

The Antioch Greek Orthodox Church brought Christians together in Turkey's Antakya for centuries until last year, when an earthquake killed dozens of them and sent hundreds more fleeing.

Though it now lies in ruins, many pray it will again bring them back.

Millions of people across Turkey on Tuesday mourned the loss of more than 53,000 friends, loved ones and neighbors in the country's catastrophic earthquake a year ago.

To mark what it calls the "Disaster of the Century," the government arranged a series of events to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the disaster in southern Turkey.

Millions of people early Feb. 6 partook in "silent marches," traversing through desolate streets across 11 southern provinces to commemorate the 53,537 lives on the first anniversary of the twin earthquakes.

Participants observed a moment of silence at 4:17 a.m., the haunting moment when the first tremor of 7.7 magnitude struck the cities while millions were asleep.

Shopkeepers and small businesses in the southern province of quake-hit Hatay's Antakya district attempt to navigate the challenging path of survival as they try to earn their livelihoods in 25 square meter container shops.

The strengthening works are ongoing uninterruptedly in Türkiye's prominent Hatay Archaeology Museum, which sustained damage during the deadly earthquakes that jolted the country's southeast in early February last year.

As a part of efforts to keep the historical heritage of the district alive, artifacts from historical buildings destroyed by the Feb. 6 earthquakes in Antakya, Hatay are being salvaged with "rubble archaeology" to be used in restoration.

Hatay, located in Türkiye's Mediterranean region, is home to many civilizations and known for its historical texture and cultural heritage.

The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) has launched a global donation campaign for the restoration of cultural assets damaged in the Feb. 6 earthquakes.

With a total of 352 out of 8,444 historic buildings in 11 provinces in the earthquake zone damaged or destroyed, the UNDP campaign focuses on buildings such as Hatay Archaeology Museum, Gaziantep Castle and Sarımiye Mosque.

A group of academics have submitted an expert report to the prosecution revealing substantial negligence and flaws in the construction process of 500 buildings, including three widely covered structures, which collapsed during the Feb. 6 earthquakes, and resulted in numerous fatalities.