Turkish students at Iowa State are helping to provide aid to residents of their home country after a devastating earthquake hit Turkey on Aug. 17.

Altug Kozikoglu, president of the Turkish Student Association, was in Golcuk, Turkey, 60 miles from the epicenter, when the quake occurred.

“We were shocked and stunned,” said Kozikoglu, junior in civil engineering. “It lasted 45 seconds — they were the longest seconds in my life.”

Selcuk Arslan, graduate student in agricultural and biosystems engineering, was concerned for his family members when he learned of the natural disaster measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale.

“It’s horrible — my family lives really close; we didn’t hear from them for 24 hours,” he said.

Those directly affected by the quake are in need of immediate relief and are lacking basic necessities like food, water and shelter, Kozikoglu said. “More than 200,000 are homeless,” he said.

The earthquake also affected many industries in the region.

“The petrol refinery had a fire,” Kozikoglu said. “It was the biggest company in Turkey.”

Turkish students at ISU and other colleges around the Midwest are working to raise money to send to their home country.

TSA members have manned donation booths in North Grand Mall, and the Memorial Union and also is working closely with the American Red Cross, 426 Fifth St., to accept donations.

“I chose the Red Cross as I thought it would give more confidence as to where the money was,” said Naci Zafer, graduate student in mechanical engineering.

Members of TSA have raised more than $700 but hope to raise as much as $5,000 for the relief fund.

TSA is accepting earthquake relief donations through the Red Cross, at a booth in the Memorial Union and at First National Bank at Fifth and Burnett streets.