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After Maraş-centered powerful earthquake, a grave mental health toll looms

"I keep thinking another disaster will strike at that time and just wait for it to pass," said Gül, 28, who managed to run out of her family house with her mother moments before the walls of her house collapsed during the tremors. After reaching the street barefoot, Gül saw the dead bodies of neighbours killed by falling concrete. She remembers the screams of people trapped in collapsed buildings.

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CHILDREN AT RISK Experts fear children will be hardest hit. The United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) said many of the more than 5.4 million children who live across the quake zone were at risk of developing anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. "We know how important learning and routine is for children and their recovery," UNICEF Regional Director for Europe and Central Asia Afshan Khan said, after a visit to Türkiye. "They need to be able to resume their education, and they urgently need psychosocial support to help deal with the trauma they have experienced."