ELAZIG GUNISIGI NEWSPAPER – February 2012
FEBRUARY REFLECTIONS
We still haven’t shaken off the pain of Van.
The constant shaking in Izmir lately is unsettling.
The Van Earthquake, in particular, once again brought the issue of the insufficient earthquake resistance of our building stock to the forefront.
It’s on the agenda, but unfortunately, it won’t last much longer. It seems that once the weather warms up, we’ll push this issue out of our agenda again.
This isn’t just a prediction but a forecast based on our usual behavior.
When I think of February, I think of Sivrice.
In 2007, two earthquakes of magnitudes 5.3 and 5.9 occurred.
Actually, people were just getting used to earthquakes of this size when, following the major Van earthquake, another earthquake of magnitude 5.6 struck, causing more buildings to collapse and lives to be lost. This broke the habit of people getting accustomed to such events.
When you look at the Mercalli Intensity Scale, Intensities 5 and 6 are classified as strong earthquakes.
But let’s note, a strong earthquake is not necessarily destructive!
Let’s return to February 2007.
The fact that there were no casualties in either of these earthquakes remains our biggest consolation.
However, both the central district of Elazığ and Sivrice suffered from medium and severe structural damage.
In other words, these earthquakes caused not just wall cracks or broken windows but buildings with moderate and severe damage.
It’s relatively easy to understand and explain the damage to buildings in villages that haven’t had engineering services, or those with a lot of age.
But what about the buildings in the city centers and towns?
In the earthquake back then, the Sivrice PTT building, which sustained light damage, would it have been able to survive a more destructive earthquake and continue to fulfill its vital communication role?
Could the Sivrice Central Mosque, which suffered moderate damage in 2004 and was patched up with plaster and paint in 2007, have survived a destructive earthquake and provided shelter to citizens? Or would it end up heavily damaged like the mosques in Van?
Could the Cumhuriyet Primary School have withstood a destructive earthquake?
In the February 2007 Sivrice Earthquakes, even in the Maden district, around 100 buildings were severely damaged.
In the city center of Elazığ, this number was around 200.
Since no buildings that were severely damaged were demolished, could it be that citizens are currently living in what could be their final resting place?
I also suggest checking one thing.
Is there anyone who remembers the February 2007 earthquakes anywhere?
Is there anyone who cares about this, takes precautions, or tries to find solutions?
I hope that years from now, February will make us reflect:
In the past, how uneasy we used to feel when an earthquake occurred, and how its consequences would affect us.
But now, it’s so heartening to know that a significant majority of our citizens live in homes with high earthquake resistance. Hopefully, once the ongoing work is completed, earthquakes will no longer be a problem for our country.
What do you think, will we think about these things one day in February?