For families in Gölyaka, a district in Düzce province in northwestern Türkiye, the pain of losing loved ones in the devastating Aug. 17, 1999 Marmara earthquake remains as deep as it was 27 years ago.
The magnitude 7.4 earthquake struck at 3:02 a.m. local time, with its epicenter in the Gölcük district of Kocaeli, killing thousands and causing widespread destruction across northwestern Türkiye, including Kocaeli, Yalova, Sakarya, Istanbul and Düzce.
Official records show that 270 people were killed and 1,157 injured in Düzce, while 4,306 homes and businesses were destroyed.
Among those who continue to carry the memory of the disaster is Mehmet Kara, who lost his 25-year-old brother Hamdi and his 19-year-old sister-in-law Çiğdem.
Kara told Anadolu Agency (AA) that he and his brother had worked in construction before returning home on the day of the earthquake.
He recalled waking to a tremendous noise and initially being unable to understand what was happening.
“When we went outside, everything was black and we could not see anything. Then I thought of my brother,” Kara said.
He and others rushed to his brother’s home, only to find that the entire floor where the couple lived had collapsed.
Kara said they eventually reached the couple with the help of excavators and found them embracing each other in bed.
“May God never make us experience those days again. It was truly a difficult process,” he said.
Kara also stressed the importance of earthquake awareness and safe construction, saying that “earthquakes do not kill people, buildings do.”
For Nusret Atasoy, 63, the earthquake brought an even greater loss. He lost his 2 sons, aged 11 and 15, as well as his brother, sister and nephew.
Atasoy said his children and relatives were staying in the family apartment in Gölyaka while he and his wife were in Düzce city center when the earthquake struck.
“When we arrived, there was no house, the children were gone, and we could not find them,” he recalled.
His sister and nephew were recovered from the rubble several hours later, while his children were found the following day and his brother two days after the disaster.
Atasoy said state support helped the family rebuild their lives, but the emotional scars remain.
“It has been 27 years, and there has not been a single moment when my children have left my mind,” he said, adding that the pain of losing a child was different from any other loss.
He recalled buying shoes for his children the night before the earthquake. His older son later called and asked him to send the shoes, but Atasoy was unable to do so the next morning. “I kept those shoes for nearly 10 years,” he said.
