Thousands of North Texans with ties to the region have been glued to the news coming out of Turkey and Syria as the death toll and destruction from the massive earthquakes continue to increase.
Early Monday morning a 7.8 magnitude earthquake hit near the southeastern border of turkey followed by a 7.5 magnitude earthquake and aftershocks.
“We have members of our community, our friends that have relatives that may still be under the rubble, as we know, as we're hearing the news, that's saddening, that's devastating," said Erdal Sipahi, the president of the Turkish American Association of Northern Texas, TURANT.
He said they have around a thousand members in their North Texas group, but there are thousands of people of Turkish background in the Metroplex and across the state.
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“We are all like one family, Muslim, Christian, or Jew or whoever we are, we all feel bad for the victims and affected and don’t want this to happen to anybody," said Sipahi.
Sipahi while he hasn't been personally affected, he's heard from some of his members who are still trying to get in contact with family in Turkey.
"I know a close friend of ours lost a loved one, so it's difficult for them. Our prayers and thoughts are with them as a community and we appreciate the goodwill of our Metroplex and our Dallas-Fort Worth neighbors," said Sipahi.
There have been numerous videos on social media that show buildings falling to the ground due to the shock waves of the earthquake.
“You see them (buildings) collapsing in front of your eyes while people are walking and trying to get away from it, it's devastating and there's over 2,500 people have perished and I'm afraid that number is going to go up unfortunately," said Sipahi.
Syria, which borders Turkey, also saw severe devastation with many lives lost.
“I didn’t sleep most of the night, I was thinking about it, kept looking at my phone," said Ayman Alkurdi, who lives in Irving and has a 73-year-old sister in Syria.
“I was very scared when I tried to call and she didn’t answer," said Alkurdi who would later get a hold of her. "She was very scared, her voice as shaky. She said the bed kept shaking, for a long time."
He said other people he knows in the capital city of Syria were okay.
"All of them in Damascus are fine, but the northern side, there’s a lot of problems over there," said Alkurdi.
That is closer to the border of Turkey, where there are a lot of refugees who were displaced from the war.
"We have multiple families here from Syria from Turkey and I immediately knew just by the magnitude of the earthquake and seeing the initial images of the buildings collapsing that the death toll is going to be significant and the restoration effort is going to be even more significant," said Imam Dr. Omar Suleiman, founder and president of the Yaqeen Institute for Islamic Research and an Imam at the Valley Ranch Islamic Center in Irving.
He said he felt immense pain and sadness when he saw the news, especially since he's traveled to that region multiple times to help with refugee camps.
“The pre-existing conditions that make this so much worse because they don't have the proper infrastructure. They're already on the run. These buildings are, in many cases, makeshift buildings that are overcrowded and the trauma that has been compounded now by people that are sleeping in the streets, bracing for the next aftershock earthquake," said Suleiman. "There's a sense of despair that overcomes a lot of people in that region that have already been through a lot of despair. You know, if you've had to worry about airstrikes, you're already a refugee, you're already displaced. You're already worrying about electricity and building reinforcement and now you have to think about earthquakes."
North Texans with roots in the area want to help, but physically it's currently a challenge due to the distance, which is why Suleiman is suggesting donations.
"I would suggest that people look into the international relief organizations that have already been working in those areas and support them immediately, because they're already there, and so they're already able to give a proper assessment of the needs on the ground. We're working with Helping Hand for Relief and Development, Islamic Relief and the Syrian Forum to make sure that we can reach them immediately," said Suleiman.
Sipahi said they are asking its members and the community to contribute directly to the search and rescue efforts and for the recovery and building phase in the future.
"Right now we have those links for cash donations," explained Sipahi who said they're channeling everything through that. "In the meantime, we're trying to find a warehouse where we can perhaps put some of the supplies that the community may want to donate."
He said they hope to work with Turkish Airlines to find a way to deliver items to Turkey in the future.
“There is no such thing as a local tragedy anymore because everything that is global is shared pain. shared perspective, and hopefully share solidarity with those that are suffering," said Sueliman.
