Survivors band together in Turkey’s earthquake-hit Gaziantep

It has been a week since a massive earthquake instantly changed tens of thousands of Turkish and Syrian lives.

A 7.8-magnitude quake erased thousands of buildings across 10 Turkish cities, devastating entire villages across the border in northern Syria as well.

The death toll surpassed 33,000 in both countries on Sunday, making it the deadliest earthquake in decades in the region.

Rescue teams and assistance were taking longer than expected because of winter weather and heavy damage to the roads.

As civilians complained, many supplied their own aid as they could, organising a response neighbourhood by neighbourhood to help and support each other.

“In this street there are only high buildings, people were running in complete terror in every direction,” Taşdelen tells Al Jazeera.

“When I saw that, I ran to open my restaurant at around 6am on the morning of the big quake. I started a couple of fires as we all stood together, waiting for the ground to stop shaking.”

In the coming days, he left the door of his restaurant open for anyone needing a warm place and meal.

In Gaziantep, despite not being as heavily impacted as elsewhere in the region, humanity amid the tragedy seems to have taken over.

At Café Sempre, in Ordu Caddesi, the owner offers blankets and free meals all day.

“I immediately came to my bar as soon as I saw all those people in the street looking for a safe ground-floor place,” says Ferdi Haydargil, 44, as he serves some hot cups of tea. “It’s our moral duty to offer anything we can to support each other.”