ELAZIG GUNISIGI NEWSPAPER – October 2011
FIRST OUR CHILDREN, THEN THE PAIN OF EARTHQUAKES
The grief of our fallen soldiers, police officers, and citizens marked the past week. We struggled to find the words to express our sorrow. The Turkish people embraced the pain of their children and, once again, showed the world the greatness of their spirit with the words "Long live the homeland."
For us, those who sacrifice their lives for the homeland, may their resting places be in heaven. The pain of the families of our martyrs is our pain. The Turkish nation is eternally grateful to its martyrs and the families who raised these brave souls.
The Republic of Turkey is a young state, but it has a deep-rooted tradition of governance. Our state will hold those responsible—killers, collaborators, and organizers—accountable for their inhuman and ungrateful behavior. Our duty is to stand by our state with patience, prayer, and effort.
While the pain caused by the cursed terrorism continues, the news from Van and Erciş once again broke our hearts. The tone of the Erciş Mayor’s voice, asking for help, struck me deeply. That tone of voice almost declared the number of dead and wounded, the helplessness. People were dying, and we, unfortunately, were just watching.
The timing—during the weekend and daylight hours—helped reduce casualties. This was a consolation within the disaster. Intervention in the earthquake zone happened very quickly. It was clear that some lessons had been learned from the 1999 earthquakes. Although it’s impossible to avoid some shortcomings, our overall organization was encouraging.
But why this level of loss of life, and why do these buildings collapse? Does an earthquake really kill, or do buildings kill? Or, was it again people killing people? Is there any need to search for blame? The fault lies with all of us. Didn’t we build these buildings? Didn’t we act irresponsibly? Didn’t we turn a blind eye to deficiencies? I say "we" because we all share responsibility. There’s no need to point fingers at others. The watchman who didn’t water the construction site, the worker who didn’t follow the project, the engineer, architect, or contractor who didn’t come to inspections, the customer who prioritized aesthetics over durability, the student who didn’t study, the market that turned away from science, the academician who focused more on politics than technical matters, the professional civil society organizations concerned more with politics than technical issues, the media that didn’t keep the earthquake in focus, the municipalities and public institutions that failed to conduct proper inspections, the ministries that didn’t enforce regulations, and politicians who only mention urban transformation during elections—each of us is guilty.
Today is not a day for criticism but for unity and solidarity. However, let’s sit around a table and conduct some self-reflection. How seriously do we take earthquakes? What is the amount of our earthquake-resistant building stock? How do we address the vast amount of earthquake-vulnerable buildings?
I have ended many of my columns with this phrase: "Let’s not forget; societies with a high level of civilization, focused on long-term goals, and with big projects in mind, are the ones where the safest places during an earthquake are their own homes." But unfortunately, in an earthquake, our homes become our graves. This shows that there is much to be done and discussed regarding urban transformation.
The Fırat Civil Engineers Association has proposed a study called TÜDES (Turkey Earthquake Strategy), and we hope this project will be brought to relevant authorities by our local politicians. TÜDES consists of two key sections: before and after the earthquake.
Predicting earthquakes in today’s conditions is not yet possible. Ongoing scientific research has not yet produced positive results. Therefore, efforts are divided into two fundamental groups: pre-earthquake and post-earthquake. Both groups are equally important, and thus, these efforts must continue in parallel. The purpose of pre-earthquake work is to develop an earthquake-resistant building stock and train professional teams for post-earthquake rescue operations.
The first aspect of pre-earthquake efforts is related to buildings. Turkey has a large stock of buildings with low earthquake resistance. Additionally, thousands of new buildings are constructed every year. The initial focus should be on building inspection. The implementation of building inspection across all 81 provinces is a crucial step, but the process must be closely monitored, and deficiencies must be continuously addressed. The main objectives of building inspection can be summarized as follows:
- To reduce economic and social losses by ensuring the safety of people and property in buildings, thereby benefiting individuals and the country as a whole.
- To increase the quality of buildings, extending their economic lifespan, and reducing maintenance costs.
- To introduce the concept of specialization in engineering, improving the quality of engineering and architectural services.
- To increase awareness among producers and consumers in the construction industry and create earthquake-resistant buildings meeting international standards.
- To enhance the effectiveness of legal supervision in the construction process.
- To grant full authority and responsibility to all technical personnel involved in the construction and inspection process.
- To enforce penalties for faults in building design and construction and to increase public trust in the state’s legal and justice systems.
Turkey's 2007 Earthquake Regulation is an international standard, and if design and application rules are followed, earthquake-resistant buildings can be achieved. What is important is the implementation of the rules in the regulation through a sufficient building inspection system. Without applying a building inspection system suited to Turkey’s conditions, the growth of buildings with low earthquake resistance cannot be halted.
The existing building stock with low earthquake resistance should be examined in two sections: urban transformation projects for city and district centers, and rural area transformation projects for rural buildings. These projects should be implemented immediately. It’s important to note that each province in Turkey has distinct structural characteristics. Therefore, separate transformation projects should be developed for each of the 81 provinces (for example, ELDES: Elazığ Earthquake Strategy), and this information should be collected in shared knowledge repositories. Transformation projects for each province should be prepared by local teams familiar with the region’s structural and geological features.
Urban transformation efforts should begin with the creation of micro-seismic earthquake maps. It is critical to know the seismic properties of the ground in each neighborhood, even in each block, as this significantly impacts the earthquake resistance of buildings. Zoning works should proceed based on these maps. The second step is determining the earthquake performance of every building in the neighborhoods and creating earthquake risk maps. These maps will determine where urban transformation should begin. New housing developments are often built in newly zoned areas or far from the city center. Doesn’t this system invite older neighborhoods to become hubs for crime, drug use, and terrorism over time? Old neighborhoods are a crucial part of urban transformation. Moving to new residential areas does not mean abandoning older buildings. In the event of another severe earthquake, there will still be damage and loss of life in these older structures. Eliminating the low or insufficient earthquake resistance of these buildings seems like the most suitable solution.
There is also significant building stock in rural areas. This stock should be assessed for earthquake resistance as soon as possible. For villages in geographically suitable locations, communal living spaces can be created, bringing villages together. This would restore the old charm of villages, addressing many social, cultural, and economic issues. The "Republic Villages Plan" I previously mentioned is an important solution proposal.
While these efforts on buildings continue, it should never be forgotten that earthquakes can happen at any time. Education, as with any other issue, is an indispensable part of the earthquake strategy. Especially the number of rescue teams should be determined based on a large earthquake scenario. Volunteers from all institutions should be trained in disaster response, and everyone should be taught how to organize effectively in the event of a disaster. In addition to these efforts, earthquake safety training and psychological support during an earthquake will help people act calmly and consciously in the aftermath of a disaster.
Pre-earthquake efforts will be long, complicated, and bureaucratically challenging. However, after an earthquake, everything becomes urgent and chaotic. First, all affected settlements must be identified as quickly as possible. After this, help will be directed to severely damaged or collapsed buildings. Meanwhile, the needs for food, shelter, health, and security for earthquake victims must be addressed. In order for all these operations to proceed smoothly, disaster drills for buildings should be conducted, and disaster centers should create "disaster scenarios" in advance. If these disaster scenarios are developed considering large earthquakes, significant shortcomings can be detected early, preventing many problems after a disaster.
In general, as I have tried to outline here, Turkey urgently needs this system, which could easily fill hundreds of pages. On the issue of earthquakes, all institutions—ministries, governors, municipalities, universities, professional chambers, associations, and the media—should come together on the TÜDES platform and take these steps for the future of our country.
As I watch the news about the Van Earthquake, I find it hard to remove my hand from the keyboard. There is so much to write. Finally, it’s worth mentioning that, especially in the last decade, there have been significant positive developments. For example, the Disaster and Emergency Management Authority is an institution that fills an important gap in post-disaster efforts. We can count many such positive steps. However, let’s not forget that citizens' bodies are still being pulled out from under the rubble, and let’s work together to eliminate the causes of this.
May our hearts find peace, and may such great suffering never happen again.