MOUNT PLEASANT, S.C. (WCBD) – A Mount Pleasant couple is keeping a close watch on rescue efforts in Turkey, where more than 11,000 people have died in the aftermath of two large-scale earthquakes.

Ayse Narin and her husband, Cengiz, are originally from Turkey and lived there in August 1999 when a 7.6 earthquake hit in Kocaeli Province.

They have lost several close friends amid the latest tragedy, but they said they are grateful for the support pouring into their homeland where many family members and friends still live.

“Some of them survive, but not all of the family,” Ayse Narin said. “Some of them died at the hospitals. Some couldn’t rescue. Some — still have no news about them, about our relatives.”

It’s been three days since the quakes hit, and the cold weather has made things more difficult, Ayse Narin said.

“I am so sorry for my country,” she said. “It is such a beautiful country, such a beautiful land, such beautiful people, but it is on the zone, on the earthquake zone.”

Many agencies and organizations are providing emergency aid in Turkey and northern Syria, among them UNICEF and Water Mission.