The Ground Beneath Hatay

On February 6, 2023, at 4:17 a. m. , the ground beneath southern Turkey buckled. A 7. 8-magnitude earthquake toppled thousands of buildings across Hatay province in seconds. Concrete floors pancaked. Roads split open. The mountains along the Syrian border shuddered exactly as the psalmist described — the earth giving way, mountains falling into the heart of the sea. In the city of Antakya — the ancient Antioch where believers were first called Christians — entire neighborhoods vanished in under a minute.…