Life has begun to return to normal in the Nurdağı and Islahiye districts of southern Gaziantep province, an area heavily affected by the powerful Feb. 6 earthquakes, as 85% of the 7,020 containers needed to house earthquake survivors were ready as of Tuesday.

Some 6,175 containers were installed at five locations in Nurdağı, and more than 5,500 containers, which were undergoing infrastructural touches, were put into service for the public. Thus, the number of earthquake victims living in containers has reached 20,000.

"Tent life is expected to end soon in the district, while the transition from tents to containers continues," said Muhammed Akın district governor of Hemşin, who works as the civil chief responsible for container cities in the district.

Reiterating that seven district governors are cooperating in the 11 disaster-hit provinces, "We are hopeful that in the next 10 days the container goal of placing all eligible citizens, determined under the coordination of the Ministry of Environment and Urbanization and AFAD, will be completed."

Akın noted that the process of returning to normal continues in the district and that they will work to improve the social aspects of life once settlements in the containers are completed.

He added that citizens who left the district after the disaster started returning to Nurdağı after the container allocation for survivors.

Ali Aydın, one of the earthquake survivors in the district, stated that their houses and shops were destroyed due to the earthquakes and they lost nine relatives. Aydın said that his family stayed in a vehicle for four days and later switched to a tent before moving into a fully furnished container home with basic amenities, thanks to the government and related organizations.

Islahiye

Recent developments have also been seen in the Islahiye district of Gaziantep, as survivors of the deadliest earthquake in its history were relocated to containers and restarted their lives.

Talha Atılay Teymur, district governor of Şarkikaraağaç, works as the civil chief in charge of the warehouse, tent and container cities, and social markets in the district, told Anadolu Agency (AA) that the work in the district continues uninterrupted.

Explaining that they are trying to meet the needs of all earthquake victims, Teymur drew attention to the fact that they have been with the victims since the first day and that the construction and delivery of container homes in Islahiye are progressing at full speed.

"Around 12,000 tents have been allocated in the district and the installation of container homes is now days from completion. There is only one tent city left in the district. Currently, we have 12 container cities sheltering 12,000 survivors. This figure is constantly being updated and the transition from tents to containers is progressing quite fast. There are 403 tents in our last remaining tent city in the district, and approximately 2,100 people are lodged therein. They will soon be allocated container homes," said Teymur.

He also noted that areas used as tent cities will be cleaned, rearranged and evaluated for new projects. Pointing out that they are working with the aim of placing all victims in the district in container accommodations, Teymur said, "We are working around the clock to place the last person in container cities."