The apartment building where Ms Kaya’s older sister and her family lived began to crumble in the wee hours of Monday. They managed to escape from their seventh-floor apartment, running down the stairs while the stairs were collapsing, but not everyone was so lucky.
They drove 30 minutes to Ms Kaya’s parents’ village and have since been sheltering there.
However, cracks have begun forming on the walls and ceiling of the compound, while the Turkish government has also warned that dams – found in every city – are in danger of caving in.
Mr Syafiq added: “For the past three days, my wife has been crying. But I told her if you keep on crying, there is nothing we can do.
“What we can do is put out a call for action. At least we can help them.”
Another Turkish living in Singapore, Mr Emre Buyukkilic, has helped spread the word of several donation campaigns among the Turkish community here. One of them is an online fundraising campaign run by the Singapore Red Cross.
Mr Buyukkilic, 36, works as a representative of the Turkish Investment Office in Singapore and has been based here for almost five years to help in bilateral investment relations.
The Turkish Embassy in Singapore has also put out a call for donations of winter clothing and other supplies like non-perishable food items, tents, blankets, sleeping bags and feminine hygiene products. Members of the public can drop the items off at their office in the SGX Centre 1 building, or send them through the mail.
Her relatives are unable to obtain such supplies now, said Ms Vanderbrink, who took time off work on Tuesday and Wednesday to deal with the situation back home.
Aside from her aunt and uncle, her step-grandmother is also missing.