For 13 terrifying seconds on 23 April this year, Turkey's largest city was shaken by a 6.2 magnitude earthquake. It was so strong that 151 people leapt from buildings in Istanbul in panic causing injuries, but no deaths.
But the Mayor, Ekrem Imamoglu, could not lift a finger to help the city he was first elected to run in 2019.
He was behind bars in a high-security prison complex in the district of Silivri, on the western edge of the city – ironically close to the epicentre.
Imamoglu is accused of a raft of corruption charges, which he strongly denies – "Kafkaesque charges" in his words.
Supporters say his only crime is being the greatest threat to Turkey's leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in presidential elections due by 2028.
