The pain of August 17th has been fresh for 27 years: I wake up hard every year on August 17th.

74-year-old Çap was caught in the 7.4 magnitude earthquake that occurred at 03.02 on August 17, 1999, with its epicenter in Gölcük district of Kocaeli, and lasted for 45 seconds, at his home in Çaybaşı Yeniköy District of Erenler district.

Çap, a mother of four children who survived the earthquake, had her son 28-year-old Hasan, married for 5 years, and her 23-year-old daughter-in-law Nilüfer Çap, who lived in the same neighbourhood, and lost their lives after falling under the rubble.

Çap, who cannot erase from his memory what he has experienced in the past 27 years, misses his son and daughter-in-law.

Sabriye Çap said that she was hit by a motorcycle a day before the earthquake, and her son Hasan took her to the hospital and took care of her.

Describing the moment of the earthquake, Çap said, "There was a sound, as if someone was mixing the tiles. My sister was with us and said, 'There is an earthquake.' He said, I had a hard time getting up. I woke up my son at home, but we cannot go out, the earthquake turned us like a mill. "We went downstairs and tried to get my other son and his family out. The wardrobe fell in front of the door and we took them out through the window," he said.

Çap said, "We went outside and the apocalypse had broken loose." This time, I thought of Hasan and said to Osman, 'His house is high, Hasan is very scared, run.' I said. They left immediately and everywhere was destroyed. "The great pain is beyond description," he said.

Explaining that he went to the house where his son lives, Çap continued as follows:

"When you see the demolished state of the house, you are not in your right mind. When you see the state of that house, you ask 'What is this?' you say. I don't even know how I got there. I went on foot, but I don't remember how I went or what I did. Life has always been about crying for me. One of my sons died in the earthquake, my other son would die of his pain. My solace is the garden and the bank of the stream. I would go and sit by the stream at 1-2 o'clock at night. "When I said 'La ilahe illallah', I felt relieved."

Source: TRT Haber Yaşam RSS (Open Press / Translated Full Text)