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It was 11 years ago and it was Monday night and Tuesday morning again, likewise now. It was nearing to the end of summer, just 6 days ago, when it was 11th August 1999, we had observed the greatest and last solar eclipse of 20th century with our ´solar eye-glasses´, we were just 11 years old kids and for first time we saw the sun hiding behind the moon at that time of noon.
Days passed and we arrived to 16th of August, monday night. Istanbul is suffering dog days again, it is too hot and all windows and doors of block apartments of Bakırköy district, are open threw. (I lived in Bakırköy till I was 15). There are our equals driving bike around the narrow street which is going down to the beach and connecting to Kennedy Avenue. There is a gloom over the buildings and city, as if sky darkened before the time it always does.
Till ten o´clock of night, I rode bike and then went to home. I opened the window of my room and went bed about midnight. I couldn´t sleep even 1 minute until 02.30 a.m., because of that hot! At last, I succumbed and went to the living room to watch TV.
Everything was okay until 03.02, when I started to hear a sound like a monster scream. First, I thought a lorry was passing through the street but it was much more different than a lorry voice.
I saw the room fastly moving and swinging left and right, furnitures were moving and wheeled television table was due to get out of the room. But, much scarier than everything was that voice, that I could never understand what it actually was.
Shake lasted for 45 seconds and it looked like years. When earthquake stopped, my father embraced me and ran to the exit door, with my mother who was crying and embracing my 1 year younger brother. When they opened the door, I heard the screams of our feared neighbour, any of them did understand whap happened.
We left the building - at that moment, electricity cut. We opened the radio of our car, everybody´s ear was at any news that would come from radio. Everybody was really curious about the epicentre and magnitude of earthquake.
We learnt. Epicenter was Gölcük town of Kocaeli. First, they declared the magnitude as 6.7 but they corrected and changed it as 7.4
Kocaeli, Sakarya and Yalova took the heaviest damage. It jolted all Marmara Region and took 17.000 lives.
I wish not to experience same disasters again and I wish peace for our brothers and sisters who have lost their lives because of this disasters.
Why did I tell this? 11 years past, a lot of memories have been forgetten, naturally. And now, scientist forecast another and worse earthquake disaster and this time is much closer to Istanbul, the heart of Türkiye.
What has changed in 11 years? Will we experience the same fear and pains or this time, are we really ready?
thx
turkishcobra//
Edited (8/16/2010) by turkishcobra
Edited (8/16/2010) by turkishcobra
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