Many people in southern Turkey, hit hard by the February 6 earthquakes, are facing difficulty rebuilding their lives and moving to other areas.

The magnitude 7.8 quake and ensuing tremors left more than 51,000 people dead in Turkey and Syria -- 45,089 in Turkey and 5,914 in Syria.

A large number of residents in Adiyaman, one of the hardest-hit cities, have been making preparations to move out.

Sezer Civikas, a 40-year-old bank employee, says he plans to go to the eastern border region, where his wife and two children have evacuated to.

He said he still has housing loan payments, but submitted a request for transfer to his employer because it is not safe to continue living in the house. Civikas also said he wants to return because he likes the city. But he added that he thinks it will take many years before that is possible.

A Turkish NGO says some 250,000 of the roughly 350,000 residents in central Adiyaman have left the city since the quakes. The group also says 35 percent of the buildings there have collapsed and another 35 percent need to be repaired.

Ali Turan, the head of the NGO, said the economy of hard-hit areas has halted due to the outflow of residents and damage to buildings. He also said people's lives will start returning to normal when they resume working at makeshift facilities provided by the government for firms, and medical and educational institutions reopen. But he said it will take about six months before that happens.