Students, Community Members Mourn Lives Lost in Türkiye/Syria Earthquakes

Students and community members held a vigil outside Geisel Library on February 16 to mourn the lives lost in the earthquakes that hit Türkiye and Syria. The Turkish Undergraduates Organization (TUO) and the Turkish Student Association (TSA) organized the vigil with the aim to remember the lives lost, spread awareness about the disaster, and raise funds for relief efforts.

On February 6, a 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck southern Türkiye near the border with Syria. About nine hours later, a 7.5 magnitude aftershock struck about 60 miles northeast of the original earthquake’s epicenter. As of February 27, the death toll in both countries surpassed 50,000, and over 20,000 buildings were confirmed to have collapsed.

The vigil began with a moment of silence as students held candles around a table of flowers. Student organizers of the vigil and community members spoke on the disaster and its impact to themselves and their families. For many, the vigil was an opportunity to gather with those also affected by the earthquakes and provide comfort for one another.

Ebru Evcen, an international Ph.D. student in Linguistics from Türkiye and president of TSA, told The Triton, “We wanted to organize this vigil to come together to provide moral support.”

Earlier in the month, TUO and TSA tabled on Library Walk and partnered with local businesses to raise money for humanitarian aid efforts.

“We need to rebuild everything from nothing,” Evcen said.

In under a week, over $15,000 was raised and donated to the Turkish Philanthropy Funds.

Sude Kopru, a fourth-year International Business major and Vice President of TUO, thanked students and faculty for their support.

“The UCSD community … have been extremely helpful. They’ve restored my hope in humanity over the last week,” Kopru shared with The Triton.

During their week of tabling, TUO and TSA members found that many students had never heard about the earthquake.

“Our main concern was just to raise awareness about this disaster,” Evcen stated. “There were still a lot of people who had not heard about the earthquake.”

On February 14, Chancellor Pradeep Khosla and Vice Chancellor for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion, Becky Petitt, released a joint statement acknowledging the earthquakes and offering support for students. A dedicated Community Support and Processing Space was hosted on February 15 where students could join together to process the disaster. The statement also encouraged students to contact Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) and employees to contact the Faculty and Staff Assistance Program if they needed counseling support.

TUO and TSA are continuing to fundraise for relief efforts in Türkiye and Syria. Donations can be made through Venmo to @tsa_ucsd_earthquake or through GoFundMe at https://gofund.me/8c62347f.

Liam Winstead is an Assistant News Editor for The Triton.