Can't sleep after an earthquake, so you lie dressed with the light on? It is very common. Learn how the night-time alert cycle works and how to rebuild sleep.
It is seventeen minutes past four in the morning, and your eyes are open again. You did not set an alarm, but your body keeps its own time. Your phone is beside you, a pair of jeans at the foot of the bed, the hall light on. For a while you stare at the ceiling and wait: for a sound, a vibration, something. In the morning you are exhausted, yet in the evening you make the same preparations all over again. Not being able to sleep after an earthquake describes the nights of many people who have lived through a major tremor or live in its shadow. In this article we talk about why lying awake on alert at night is so stubborn, the cycle that disrupts sleep, and ways of getting your sleep back step by step.
Why Is Not Being Able to Sleep After an Earthquake So Common?
Sleep is the state in which a person is most vulnerable. To be able to close our eyes and let go of consciousness, we need, deep down, the feeling that "I am safe here". An earthquake targets exactly this feeling; and on top of that, it often strikes at night, while people are asleep.
On 6 February 2023, the fact that the first major tremor struck in the early hours, when people were in deep sleep, etched the link between sleep and danger into the minds of many people in Turkey. For those who lived through that night, watched the news of it or lost loved ones in those hours, night may have been learned no longer as a time of rest but as a time of danger.
The brain does this learning in order to survive: "If you sleep, you'll miss the warning." This is why post-earthquake sleep problems are not a weakness but a natural result of the alarm system working overtime. The problem is that this alarm does not fall silent even after the danger has passed.
Lying Awake on Alert: What Do the Symptoms Look Like?
Post-earthquake sleep problems can appear in different forms:
- Difficulty falling asleep, lying in bed listening for hours
- Waking frequently at night, with your eyes opening especially around the time the earthquake happened
- Waking with a start at the smallest sound: a creaking door, the fridge humming
- Being unable to sleep without leaving the light on
- Sleeping fully dressed, even with shoes right next to the bed
- Sleeping with your phone in your hand and the earthquake app open
- Having nightmares about the earthquake or about losses
- Waking unrefreshed in the morning, with intense tiredness, distractibility and irritability during the day
Some people experience the opposite: because they cannot sleep all night, they doze off at every opportunity during the day, on the bus, during work breaks, in front of the television. This throws night-time patterns even further out of order.
These reactions are often at their most intense right after the earthquake and gradually ease over the following weeks. In some people, however, they become an established pattern even months later.
The Cycle That Disrupts Sleep: Fear, Control and Exhaustion
The reason post-earthquake insomnia is so stubborn is that it creates a self-feeding cycle:
- The thought "night = danger" raises the body's alarm.
- When the alarm rises, the person takes safety measures: leaving the light on, going to bed dressed, holding the phone.
- These measures bring relief in the short term but send the brain the message "the danger is still here".
- A body waiting on alert cannot reach deep sleep and wakes often.
- Tiredness that lasts all day lowers the capacity to cope with anxiety, and the next night the anxiety starts out higher.
On top of this cycle may come fear of sleeplessness itself: "If I can't sleep tonight either, I won't be able to function tomorrow." This thought increases tension before you even get into bed and makes sleep even harder.
Sleep cannot be forced; it comes on its own only when the body feels safe enough. The aim is not to try to sleep, but to rebuild the conditions in which sleep can come.
Post-Earthquake Nights in Turkey: A Shared Experience
In Turkey, post-earthquake sleep problems are often not the problem of one person but of an entire family, even an entire apartment block. After major earthquakes, many families chose for weeks to sleep in the same room, even on the floor of the living room. Children went back to their parents' bed, and elderly parents did not want to be alone at night.
Everyday conditions in cities can also deepen sleep problems:
- Apartment noises: The footsteps of the upstairs neighbour, the lift running, the washing machine next door can turn into alarm signals for a body that carries the memory of an earthquake.
- Shift work and a heavy work pace: Employees who lose their night's sleep and must catch the company shuttle early in the morning feel the effects of sleeplessness heavily at work.
- Financial worries: Concerns such as the cost of living and debt combine with earthquake anxiety and make the mind even more active at night.
Let us say an elderly woman who has moved from Malatya to Istanbul to live with her daughter has been sleeping for months on the living room sofa, near the door. Her daughter has prepared a separate room for her, but she does not want to go into it, because the room is at the end of the hall and "it's hard to get out". She gets up several times a night to check the door lock and waits without closing her eyes until the call to prayer at dawn. In this example, sleeplessness is not just a sleep problem but also an expression of the loss she has suffered, of being uprooted, and of the need for safety.
Practical Suggestions for When You Can't Sleep After an Earthquake
Fix your morning wake-up time
One of the most powerful tools for rebuilding a sleep pattern is getting up at the same time every morning, however much you slept during the night. This resets the brain's internal clock and increases the need for sleep the following night. Staying in bed until noon after a bad night makes the next night harder too.
Reduce your safety measures to a reasonable level
Keeping a torch and easy-to-slip-on slippers beside the bed is a reasonable precaution. But try gradually reducing measures such as sleeping dressed, leaving the light fully on or holding your phone. For example, you might first leave the hall light on and switch off the bedroom light, and a few nights later replace it with a dim night light.
Make your bedroom genuinely safer
Some precautions do not feed anxiety; on the contrary, they rightly soothe it. Fixing a wardrobe that could topple onto the bed to the wall, removing heavy frames above the headboard, and moving the bed away from directly beneath a large window are precautions of this kind. Once you have done these and finished, your mind can lean on the thought "I have done what I can" at night. What makes the difference is whether a precaution is taken once and completed, or requires checking again every night.
Agree on a shared night-time routine with your partner
If one partner wants to sleep with the light on, the door ajar and the phone in hand while the other cannot sleep unless it is dark, night-time can quickly become a source of tension. In this case, rather than arguing over who is right, it is important to find a middle way: an eye mask, a dim night light, or the phone resting on the bedside table rather than in the bed. A shared routine protects both sleep and the relationship.
Create a transition space before bed
Spend the hour before bed away from earthquake news and social media. A warm shower, a light book, calm music or a short relaxation exercise sends the body the message "the day is over; you are safe now".
Give your worries time before bed
Set aside fifteen minutes of "worry time" early in the evening. Write down the earthquake and future-related worries on your mind, and if there is something that can be done, note it beside them. When these thoughts come up in bed, remind yourself: "I've written these down; I'll look at them again tomorrow."
Get out of bed if you can't sleep
If you notice you have been unable to sleep for about twenty minutes, get up and do something calm in dim light. Go back to bed when you feel sleepy. This prevents the bed from being learned as a place where you lie awake and on alert.
Approach night-time waking differently
When you wake close to the time the earthquake happened, try not to look at the clock or pick up your phone. Notice with calm attention your feet touching the bed, the weight of the duvet and the sounds in the room. Breathe out long and slowly. Remind yourself: "My body remembers that night, but right now I'm here."
Tire the body out during the day, but not in the evening
Walking and physical activity during the day support night-time sleep. In the evening, however, avoid intense exercise, caffeine and heavy meals.
For more comprehensive suggestions about sleep, see our article how to overcome insomnia.
Children and Sleep: Returning to the Parents' Bed
After an earthquake, many children do not want to sleep alone, go back to their parents' bed or wake often at night. In the early period this is entirely understandable, and offering closeness to the child is an important part of repairing their sense of safety.
Over time, however, the child's return to their own bed should also be planned gradually. For example, the parent can first settle the child to sleep while sitting beside the bed in the child's room; then move to the doorway, and after that to the hallway. Offering the child a short, calm routine before bed, leaving a night light on and encouraging them in the morning by saying "you slept really well" support this process.
If the child often has nightmares, wakes screaming in their sleep, or keeps re-enacting the earthquake in their play during the day too, it may be helpful to see a child mental health professional.
When Should You Seek Professional Support?
Post-earthquake sleep problems ease over time in most people. In the following situations, however, we recommend seeking professional support:
- Sleep problems have not eased, or have increased, even though weeks have passed since the earthquake
- During the day you struggle to do your job, look after your children, or carry out tasks that require safety, such as driving
- Frequent nightmares, sudden memories and feeling as if you are reliving the earthquake accompany the sleep problems
- You have started turning to alcohol or non-prescribed substances in order to sleep
- Hopelessness, lack of motivation or thoughts that life is meaningless have appeared
In emergencies, such as thoughts of harming yourself, call 112 (emergency services). Assessment by a psychiatrist is important to decide whether medication is needed for sleep; avoid self-medicating. If recurring nightmares are troubling you, our article on constant nightmares can also offer guidance. Individual therapy to work with post-earthquake sleep problems and night-time anxiety is available face to face or online.
How Are Post-Earthquake Sleep Problems Addressed in Therapy?
In therapy, sleep problems are usually addressed from two directions: sleep itself, and the fear that disrupts it.
Cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) is a structured approach known to be effective for sleep problems. It uses techniques such as adjusting the sleep window, associating the bed only with sleep, a fixed wake-up time and testing anxiety-provoking thoughts about sleep. For post-earthquake insomnia, these techniques are adapted sensitively to the person's need for safety.
Working with night-time safety behaviours is an important part of therapy. Behaviours such as leaving the light on, sleeping dressed and checking the phone are reduced at the person's pace, through small steps agreed together with them.
Working with nightmares, for people with recurring earthquake nightmares, may involve addressing the content of the nightmare during the day in a safe setting, and sometimes rewriting the ending of the nightmare.
Trauma-focused work, for people who experienced the earthquake directly, lost loved ones or were rescued from rubble, aims to work at the person's own pace with the memories that disrupt sleep. It is often observed that as the memory is processed, the night-time alarm system also calms down.
Relaxation and breathing techniques are taught to lower the body's alarm level both before bed and during night-time waking, and are turned into a daily practice.
Frequently Asked Questions
I wake every night at the time the earthquake happened. Why?
The body can record an intense moment of danger together with its time. This can cause the alarm system to be triggered on its own at that hour. When you wake, not looking at the clock, not picking up your phone and trying to drift back to sleep with calm breathing help this link weaken over time.
Can I make up for lost night-time sleep by sleeping during the day?
A short afternoon nap can help, especially on days when you are very tired. But long daytime sleeps reduce the need for sleep at night and can keep the cycle going. If you nap, try to keep it short and in the late morning or early afternoon.
I can't sleep without leaving the light on. Is that a problem?
In the early period, sleeping with the light on may give you a sense of safety. But bright light lowers the quality of sleep and, in the long run, gives the brain the message that the danger continues. Instead of switching the light off all at once, you can try small steps such as moving first to a dim night light.
Should I take medication to sleep?
It is important not to make this decision on your own. If your sleep problems seriously affect your day, you can ask a psychiatrist for an assessment. For many people, psychological approaches aimed at the sleep pattern also bring clear improvement.
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Eda Erkan Alapala
Klinik Psikolog. İstanbul Kent Üniversitesi Klinik Psikoloji Tezli Yüksek Lisans mezunu; bilişsel davranışçı terapi, çocuk merkezli oyun terapisi ve çocuk-ergen psikoterapisi alanlarında eğitimlerini tamamlamıştır.
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