ALEPPO, Syria, Feb. 7 (Xinhua) -- "This seconds-long tremor pushed us all out," 57-year-old Johar Jarouj told Xinhua at a shelter he sought refuge at after the deadly earthquake jolted parts of Syria and Türkiye earlier on Monday.
Jarouj was awakened by the shaking of his home in the Slaimaniyeh neighborhood in the old city of Aleppo. At first, he and other members of his family thought it was a simple tremor and decided to continue sleeping. However, another wave, much more powerful this time, occurred right after the first one, which forced them to flee to the street.
When the earthquake ended, his building sustained some cracks and seemed dangerous to stay at so he sought refuge at the Marian Brothers Monastery in Aleppo. But after a long and excruciating day, he could not fall asleep.
"We haven't slept since this morning, because we are still terrified. Even my little children can't fall asleep. It was a great horror," he said.
At the same monastery, Samer Samihni, a father of five, said his house was also damaged in the earthquakes.
He said he had never experienced anything like that in his life, even during the brutal battles fought in Aleppo, adding what frightened him most was not the tremor but his children's screams.
"It was so powerful and our life was at mercy. It was the first time I witnessed such a thing," the man recounted.
Walking inside the old city of Aleppo after the earthquake, one gets a strange feeling because scenes of destruction in Aleppo are not unfamiliar at all because large parts of the old city are still in ruins after the cruel battle of Aleppo fought from 2012 to 2016.
While destruction is not strange there, the new thing is people's will to move on and save lives.
George al-Saba', director of the Marian Brothers Monastery, told Xinhua that his monastery received more than 750 displaced people since Monday morning, noting that the refugees were provided with essential needs.
"We provided breakfast, lunch, and dinner meals. We also offered heating and most importantly safety so that people could feel safe after this day," al-Saba' told Xinhua.
The streets in Aleppo are full of people working on the wreckage, relentlessly digging with the civil defense and other rescue teams.
According to the Syrian Health Ministry, at least 711 were killed and 1,431 injured in the provinces of Aleppo, Latakia, Hama, and Tartus.
Media reports also cited rescue workers as saying that 733 were killed and over 2,100 injured in the rebel-held region in Syria.
Produced by Xinhua Global Service
