Awkwardly rubbing their palms together to keep warm, the elderly prepare to spend another night at a school in Adana. Turkey which was turned into a temporary shelter for them earthquake victims. Most will sleep on the floor, some on some old couch.

With the help of younger relatives or neighbors, they walked to school to protect themselves from the severe cold that prevailed in the area. Despite the danger, the children and grandchildren briefly returned to their houses, which shudder every time a strong jolt, to bring them their medicines or some blankets.

This is not the first time many older people have experienced a devastating earthquake. Two massive earthquakes that rocked southeast Turkey yesterday Monday (magnitude 7.8 in the morning and 7.5 in the afternoon) have killed more than 6,300 people in Turkey and neighboring Syria.

“We were shaking and crying”

Kemal, 86, descended from the 4th floor of an apartment building, accompanied by his 60-year-old daughter. “I wasn’t afraid for my life, I was worried about my daughters,” he told Reuters as he propped his legs up on a chair and wrapped himself in a blanket for warmth. One of his three daughters tells how she literally climbed upstairs to get to their apartment and bring her father his heart medication and painkillers.

Elif, 73, survived the 1999 Nicomedia earthquake that killed about 17,000 people. “We were shaking and crying… Me, my daughter and my granddaughter,” she says, wrapped in a blanket in the school assembly hall, next to her was 15-year-old Naime.

Koca Khalil Budak, who is about 80 years old, says he survived a massive earthquake at the age of 8 and considers himself lucky that he experienced the same thing yesterday for the second time when he visited Adana to see his son. “I tried to hold on to the closet, and the house was shaking… My son was shouting: ‘Daddy, don’t be afraid’… We quickly got out,” he and his wife and children describe his side.

“It was the first major earthquake in my life,” says a 62-year-old man in a tracksuit who fled home with his wife. Her head is wrapped in a scarf, and she silently examines the sparkling ring on her hand. He does not take offense at the second night he spends at school. “It’s nice inside, at least it’s warm,” the 62-year-old explains, noting that many huddle in tents or even in cars.

^{Source: APE-MEB, Reuters}