by Wei Yudong
BAGHDAD, Nov. 15 (Xinhua) -- "I can still feel the tremor and cannot breathe when thinking about that dreadful night," Mohammeed Salah recalled what he and his family have suffered during the Nov. 12 earthquake at his hometown of Darbandikhan.
"I will never forget that night. Everything was shaking and the ground was moving. We rushed out and didn't dare to go back to our house," said Salah.
He is not alone.
More than 48 hours has passed since a 7.3-magnitude earthquake struck Sulaimaniyah province, northeastern Iraq, but in the worst-hit city Darbandikhan, which is located very close to the epicenter, many residents still refuse to go back to their houses and would rather spend the cold night in public parks or under tents in their gardens.
Kareem Majed, 63-year-old, and dozens of local people gathered near a collapsed building, waiting for the distribution of humanitarian aid by local officials and international organization.
Majed's house was damaged during the earthquake. He escaped with his family to the nearby mountains. "My house was badly damaged and we can only live under a tent now," he said.
In a restaurant across the street, 58-year-old Abu Mustafa was very busy in cleaning the mess after the quake. He said "that night was like the doomsday. My right hand and waist were wounded when I fled for life during the earthquake. My family is worried about the aftershocks."
He and his family now live in a park, and they had to set fire to resist the cold during the night.
"I have never seen anything like this quake. I hope our life will return to peace and normal as soon as possible," said Mustafa.
NO HOME FOR REFUGEE
In Kurdish language, Darbandikhan means a little but cozy tavern between two mountain peaks.
Surrounded by mountains in northeastern Iraq and located close to the border with Iran, this small city has always been a remote and quiet place.
But on Nov. 12 night, the peace was broken by the sudden earthquake, which has left four people killed and hundreds of houses damaged there.
Among the four dead, two are refugees from Salahuddin province.
In 2014, extremist Islamic State (IS) group occupied large territories in north and west of Iraq, and Salahuddin province was also under attack. Many Salahuddin civilians had no choice but fled their home and arrived at Darbandikhan. Some of them lived in a four-floor building by the main street of this peaceful city.
Three years has passed and Iraqi forces made continuous progress in the fight against the IS in recent months, and IS militants lost almost all of their strongholds in Iraq.
Most of Salahuddin refugees have left Darbandikhan and returned to their hometown. But still there are nine people living here in this building when the earthquake struck.
Only seven were rescued alive after the building collapsed and the other two were killed.
"These people were planning to go back home next month. But what a tragedy that they didn't make it," said a neighbor living near this collapsed building. "They have been here for more than three years. They just want to stay away from IS, but they cannot escape from an earthquake."
A DAM UNDER POTENTIAL DAMAGE
Residents of Darbandikhan city are worrying about their damaged houses, but local officials may be more worried another risk: a breached dam.
A 500-meter-long dam lies at the upstream of Darbandikhan city, holding more than 3 billion cubic meters of water.
Rocks as huge as cars fell over from the nearby mountains and hit the dam during the earthquake. Dust still swirled at the top of nearby mountains after two days. Water leaks out from some cracks on the concrete wall of dam drain.
Rahman Kahne, director of the Dam, said that the dam was damaged by the worst earthquake in 100 years.
"There is no imminent danger. Technical teams from Baghdad and Erbil have evaluated the safety situation of the dam. We have found some damage. If it is not repaired, the risk will be high," Kahne added.
UNEXPECTED REFLECTION
For most Kurdish people in Sulaimaniyah province, this earthquake may be a once-in-a-life event, which not only caused panic among the residents in the mountainous cities, but also brought about some unexpected reflection.
"It is a big warning to us Kurdish and Iraqi people," said a Kurdish resident in the Darbandikhan town, who refused to give his name.
"We should stop creating cracks and division in the people," said he, referring to Kurdish independence referendum in September.
He added "we should stop stirring conflicts and return to peace."
Tensions have been running high between Baghdad and the region of Kurdistan after the Kurds held the controversial referendum on the independence of the Kurdistan region and the disputed areas.
