How did the displaced in northern Syria spend their first night after the earthquake?

Idlib -

"We could not sleep all night, and my children and I stayed awake in my car on the street across from the building where we live."

This is how the Syrian Ahmed Al-Sheikh and his family from the Sarmada region (north of Idlib) spent the first night that followed the earthquake that struck Syria at dawn on Monday, and its aftershocks were repeated later.

"During the earthquake, I carried my children from my apartment on the third floor, and we went down to the streets despite the extreme cold, and we could not return home for fear of a new earthquake," the sheikh told Al-Jazeera Net.

The Sheikh and his family carried a few clothes as they fled and took refuge in the car from the morning of the earthquake on Monday until the next day.

"We brought some biscuits and water, and we did not sleep all night, because we had nowhere to go in light of the rainstorm," he said.

According to the civil defense teams, the death toll from the earthquake in northwestern Syria (where the opposition controls) has risen to more than 700 dead and more than 2,000 injured, in a toll that is expected to increase significantly due to the presence of hundreds of families under the rubble, as rescue operations continue amid great difficulties and heavy rains. Heavy and aftershocks.

The number of completely collapsed buildings rose to 210, and more than 440 were partially destroyed by the earthquake. Thousands of buildings were also cracked in northwestern Syria.

In front of destroyed buildings

On the first night after the earthquake, large numbers of civilians lay in front of the destroyed buildings in search of their stranded relatives, as it is estimated that thousands of civilians - including women and children - were still trapped under the rubble of their buildings, and the civil defense teams could not reach them.

Among them is Abdullah Al-Shartah, who lost his uncle and his entire family under the rubble in the Harem area (north of Idlib), and 24 hours after the earthquake, he is still carrying a shovel and searching for them, hoping that they are alive.

Al-Shartah told Al-Jazeera Net, "My uncle, his wife, and 3 of his children are under the rubble, and we heard their voices crying out, and we tried with the civil defense teams all night to pull them out, but to no avail."

According to Al-Shartah, the number of victims in the Harem region alone exceeded 1,000 civilians, and he expected the total number of injured in the same region to reach 5,000, given that the civil defense did not reach many destroyed sites.

Great destruction and limited equipment

The White Helmets (opposition civil defense) declared a state of emergency in northwestern Syria after the catastrophic earthquake that caused the collapse of entire residential buildings, and all volunteers were mobilized to help the needy.

Although none of the White Helmets were injured, many of their family members in both Syria and Turkey were directly affected by the earthquake, and many of them are still trapped under the rubble.

The wide geographical distribution of the earthquake, and the resulting damage throughout northwestern Syria;

This indicates the weakness of the limited capacity of the rescue teams, and the largest number of damages were concentrated in Idlib governorate, which included Idlib city, Sarmada, Jisr al-Shughour, Harem, Salqin, al-Dana, and Atma, and the countryside of Aleppo, which included Atarib, Termanin, Jandris, Azaz, and Afrin.

"There is an urgent need for additional search and rescue equipment, heavy equipment, spare parts and fuel due to the large number of collapsed buildings, damage to existing equipment and insufficient to meet urgent needs," the White Helmets said.

The teams called on all humanitarian organizations and international donors to provide material support and help organizations responding to this disaster and urgently help the earthquake victims.

Thousands of stranded people fled to cars, buses and camps for the displaced (Al-Jazeera Net)

IDP camps are safer

Volunteers set up tents in one of the central parks in the city of al-Bab (east of Aleppo) to shelter the people spread out in the open, while a bus company in Idlib governorate announced that it would receive civilians and provide heating inside, in order to shelter the largest number of them.

Meanwhile, most of the families living in residential buildings in northern Idlib have been displaced to IDP camps, which have become safer because their roofs are made of tin or covered with nylon.

Among them is the Syrian Bashar al-Kamil, who moved his family after the earthquake to his brother's tent in the Sarmada area (north of Idlib), for fear of a new earthquake after the residential building in which he lives was cracked.

Al-Kamil told Al-Jazeera Net, "The tent is small and my brother's family and I cannot accommodate, but we are forced to stay in it and sleep with them tonight, after warnings of aftershocks in the coming hours."

Al-Kamil added, "The camps were not affected by any damage due to the earthquake, and they are safer because there are no floors and roofs. Therefore, most families who live in residential buildings resort to tents to shelter their families until the aftershocks end."