Skip links

Skip to Content
play

Live

Navigation menu

  • News
    • Middle East
    • Africa
    • Asia
    • US & Canada
    • Latin America
    • Europe
    • Asia Pacific
  • Ukraine war
  • Features
  • Economy
  • Opinion
  • Video
    • Coronavirus
    • Climate Crisis
    • Investigations
    • Interactives
    • In Pictures
    • Science & Technology
    • Sports
    • Podcasts
play

Live

In Pictures

Gallery|Turkey-Syria Earthquake

Earthquake piles misery on war-ravaged Jandaris in Aleppo region

Looking for pieces of ‘home’, survivors in Jandaris comb through the devastation for personal possessions.

Mohammad Ghazi Sbeih, an IDP from from Kafr Sijna, digs through the rubble of his home in Jandaris.
Mohammad Ghazi Sbeih, a displaced person from Kafr Sijna, digs through the debris of his home in Jandaris to retrieve whatever belongings he can find after last Monday's earthquake in Syria. [Ali Haj Suleiman/Al Jazeera]
By Ali Haj Suleiman
Published On 13 Feb 202313 Feb 2023
facebooktwitterwhatsapp

Jadaris, Syria – In Jandaris, in northwest Syria’s Aleppo province, residents scrambled to find and pick up remnants of their lives from between mounds of concrete and mangled metal.

Some cried as they sat atop the rubble of their homes. Others set up tents for the children among some olive trees.

Excavators moved debris while people, armed with only shovels and picks, helped.

The civil war in Syria had already left its mark on the residents and internally displaced persons (IDPs) who took shelter in northwest Syria, but the deadly earthquakes that hit the region have greatly worsened their reality.

Many of the people Al Jazeera spoke to were IDPs grappling with a new sense of loss.

“I have been an IDP for three years living in Jandaris. The earthquake hit us on Monday and we lost many people including my sister, my nephew and my brother-in-law. Right now we are retrieving whatever we can find from our belongings,” said Louai Fares al-Khalaf, 36, from Bsaqla district.

More than four million people live in Syria’s northwestern rebel-held enclave, where they have been subject to incessant air attacks and rampant poverty. They were hit hard by the February 6 quakes that also shook Turkey to its core.

Many in the area were living in crowded tent settlements or buildings already weakened by past bombings. The quake displaced many for a second or third time, forcing some to sleep in the open as temperatures dipped.

“I have set up a tent among the olive trees and 17 of us will live in it. The survivors are me, my brother and our two families,” al-Khalaf said.

Asmaa' Kousa holds her hands up in prayer as she sits atop the rubble of a destroyed building
Asmaa' Kousa holds her hands up in prayer as she sits atop the rubble of a destroyed building. [Ali Haj Suleiman/Al Jazeera]
Advertisement
Asmaa' Kousa cries as she sits on top of the rubble of a destroyed building.
Asmaa' Kousa cries at the site of the destruction. [Ali Haj Suleiman/Al Jazeera]
Louai Fares al-Khalaf, 36, retrieves whatever he can find of his family's belongings. [Ali Haj Suleiman/Al Jazeera]
Louai Fares al-Khalaf lost his sister, nephew and brother-in-law when the earthquake struck northwestern Syria last Monday.
Louai Fares al-Khalaf lost his sister, nephew and brother-in-law when the earthquake struck northwestern Syria last Monday. [Ali Haj Suleiman/Al Jazeera]
Mohammad Ghazi Sbeih, an IDP from Kafr Sijna, stands amid the rubble of his home in Jandaris, northwestern Syria. [Ali Haj Suleiman/Al Jazeera]
Balloons spelling out 'I love you' can be seen on the wall of a destroyed building in Jandaris, Syria.
Balloons spelling out 'I love you' can be seen on the wall of a destroyed building in Jandaris, Syria. [Ali Haj Sueiman/Al Jazeera]
Advertisement
Survivors in Jandaris, Syria, packing up whatever belongings they have left after Monday's earthquake.
Survivors in Jandaris, Syria pack up whatever belongings they have left after Monday's earthquake. [Ali Haj Suleiman/Al Jazeera]


    • About Us
    • Code of Ethics
    • Terms and Conditions
    • EU/EEA Regulatory Notice
    • Privacy Policy
    • Cookie Policy
    • Cookie Preferences
    • Sitemap
    • Community Guidelines
    • Work for us
    • HR Quality
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise with us
    • Apps
    • Channel Finder
    • TV Schedule
    • Podcasts
    • Submit a Tip
    • Al Jazeera Arabic
    • Al Jazeera English
    • Al Jazeera Investigative Unit
    • Al Jazeera Mubasher
    • Al Jazeera Documentary
    • Al Jazeera Balkans
    • AJ+
    • Al Jazeera Centre for Studies
    • Al Jazeera Media Institute
    • Learn Arabic
    • Al Jazeera Centre for Public Liberties & Human Rights
    • Al Jazeera Forum
    • Al Jazeera Hotel Partners

Follow Al Jazeera English:

  • facebook
  • twitter
  • youtube
  • instagram-colored-outline
  • rss
Al Jazeera Media Network logo
© 2023 Al Jazeera Media Network