Examination of Individual and Collective Trauma After the Kahramanmaraş Earthquake

Kahramanmara & scedil; earthquake devastated city centers, districts and villages in a total of 11 provinces located on the Eastern Anatolia Fault Line in T & uuml;rkiye over 50,000 people lost their lives in the earthquake. The aim of this study is to examine the effects of individual and collective trauma in posts about earthquakes on social media after the earthquake. The study was designed with a qualitative research method. Tweets containing the keywords "earthquake", "psychology", "psychological support", "trauma", "post-trauma stress" were collected on Twitter between February 6 and April 13, 2023. As a result of the analyzes, three main themes were determined as "call for help", "post-traumatic stress" and "collective trauma". Accordingly, under the main theme of "call for help", the sub-themes of "call to reach relatives", "call for basic needs" and "call for psychological support" were identified. The 2nd main theme, post-traumatic stress, includes "flashbacks", "insomnia, nightmares", "fear and helplessness" and "anger". Under the 3rd main theme of collective trauma, the sub-themes of "sadness", "fear" and "anger" were identified. In our study, it was determined that the earthquake had traumatic effects at the individual and collective level. Findings of the study highlight the importance of comprehensive disaster response strategies that address survivors' psychological well-being, promote recovery, and build resilience in the face of adversity.