Two Consecutive Earthquakes Struck Turkey

People in Turkey have been going through difficult times for the last couple of days due to the gruesome earthquake that hit Kahramanmaraş with magnitudes of 7,7 and 7,6 on February 6, 2023. These earthquakes have been considered one of the biggest natural disasters of the century by geologists and seismologists. This harrowing event affected multiple provinces in the southeastern part of Turkey including Kahramanmaraş, Gaziantep, Malatya, Diyarbakır, Kilis, Şanlıurfa, Adıyaman, Hatay, Osmaniye, and Adana. Given that Turkey has a significant geographical context in an earthquake zone, the locals and authorities have developed an efficient safeguarding attitude against sudden disasters in time. Local and global organizations took action to heal the wounds of the earthquake victims and the synchronized rescue operations continue to safeguard the survivors. Everyone shows impeccable unity under these difficult circumstances.

Where Did the Earthquake Hit?

map of the earthquake zone Turkey is in deep sorrow by the pain of the earthquake that hit 10 provinces in the southeastern region. This earthquake, which took place on the Eastern Anatolian fault line produces most of the earthquakes in Turkey. The potential of an earthquake was actually predicted by Turkish geoscientists a short time before the horrifying event and precautions were taken, but the severity and effects of the disaster could not be predicted to be so devastating. Geologists state that the last time an earthquake of a magnitude similar to this event, which was felt in Syria, Lebanon, and Georgia as well as Turkey, occurred in this region was in 1513. It has been reported that faultlines that have accumulated energy for 500 years have been broken in this natural disaster, which local and foreign seismologists describe as a "cosmic disaster".

Experts around the world also shared their research and observations about the earthquake in Turkey with the public. Carlo Doglioni, head of the Italian National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV), made a statement to the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera. Doglioni stated that the Anatolian tectonic plate, where the fault line is located, moved about three meters in the northeast-southwest direction in correlation with the Arabian plate in only 30-40 seconds.

As a country that lives with the awareness of the earthquake phenomenon, Turkey took lessons from the previous devastation of natural disasters, especially from the 1999 earthquake. The government set strict construction regulations to ensure the residents' safety after the earthquake in following. A series of laws came into force between 2000 and 2020 in order to create earthquake-resistant cities and minimize the damage of earthquakes.

With these precautions, strict construction codes were begun to be implemented and inspections had compactified. In recent years, a great effort has been canalized to renovate buildings that are not resistant to earthquakes with urban transformation projects. Unfortunately, these horrendous earthquakes severely damaged or demolished the old buildings that had not yet undergone renovation. No damages were detected in the reinforced and renovated buildings in accordance with the rules and inspections.

How Can You Help People in Turkey?

Everyone is in deep grief. A lot of people are wondering how they can help the earthquake victims in need. As TEKCE, we cooperate with GIGDER (Real Estate International Promotion Association) and various non-government organizations to support to heal the wounds of the earthquake victims during these difficult days. We focus our help on the earthquake zone to provide the primary necessities of the survivors.

If you would like to show support for the earthquake victims, you can find details in our latest news subjecting the earthquake and how you can help the ones in need.

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Uğur Dağtepesi

AUTHORUğur DağtepesiPartner Supervisor

Created: 09.02.2023, 10.00Updated: 10.02.2023, 14.03

How Can We Help the Earthquake Victims of Turkey?

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