Elderly couple seeks refuge in mosque after twin quakes in Türkiye

An elderly couple in Türkiye's southern Hatay province found refuge in a nearby mosque after their home sustained damage in Monday's twin earthquakes.

For the past four days, 67-year-old Ayse Boncuk and her husband, Irfan Boncuk, who is 75, have been staying in a small annex next to Haci Mehmet Karatoyuk Mosque in Hatay's quake-hit Iskenderun district.

The couple had to vacate their nearby home after back-to-back earthquakes struck 10 southern provinces of Türkiye, including Hatay, leaving at least 17,674 people dead and 72,879 injured.

Their three-story home was damaged by the two quakes measuring 7.7 and 7.6 on the Richter scale which leveled hundreds of buildings across the coastal province.

Ever since they hastily left their home carrying nearly everything they owned, Ayse and Irfan have maintained the lavatory of the mosque complex for the use of search-and-rescue teams working nearby.

"My husband had already been working at the mosque before the earthquakes," Ayse told Anadolu. "So it was the logical place to seek refuge."

They said they are thankful to still be alive but must contend with nighttime temperatures in Hatay that frequently fall below zero.

"We couldn't sleep because it was so cold and we didn't have any heavy blankets," Ayse said.

Home to approximately 251,000 people, Hatay's Iskenderun district was one of the areas hardest hit by Monday's devastating earthquakes.

Known for its steelworks and petrochemical factories, Iskenderun is also an important commercial seaport, which was ravaged by fire in the wake of the quakes.

On Tuesday, the government declared a seven-day period of national mourning in response to the earthquakes. The following day, it declared a three-month state of emergency in all 10 affected provinces.

Government officials have described Monday's twin quakes as the third-largest natural disaster to afflict the country since the "Great Anatolian Earthquake" of 1668 and a 1939 earthquake in central Erzincan province that left more than 32,000 people dead.

On Wednesday, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan paid a visit to several quake-hit areas, including Hatay.

Ayse and Irfan, meanwhile, were provided with blankets after an Anadolu reporter put them in touch with a nearby aid distribution center.