What happened to Turkey after the earthquake? Approximately 60,000 people died in Turkey and Syria and it was the worst natural disaster in Turkey’s modern history. You rarely hear about places like this after the disaster headlines fade from the news. But what I saw was really incredible. Some areas were badly destroyed but they are rebuilding at a rapid pace. Antakya was almost completely leveled but the old city is being restored into something traditional yet also modern. New apartment buildings are going up everywhere. There are very few piles of rubble left and if you didn’t know there was an earthquake you would think they just built a very disjointed city with empty lots next to large buildings in places like Iskenderun or Gaziantep. There is an enormous amount of construction which in a funny way created this booming post earthquake economy due to so many jobs in constructions now. The food is still just as incredible in Hatay even if served out of temporary restaurants...