ELAZIG GUNISIGI NEWSPAPER – April 2012
"OKÇULAR", "KANATLI", AND "DEMİRCİ"—WE HAVEN'T FORGOTTEN…
Tomorrow marks exactly two years since the Başyurt-Karakoçan Earthquake.
Date: March 8, 2010, Time: 04:32 AM.
In this earthquake of approximately 6.0 magnitude, 42 of our citizens lost their lives, and 137 were injured.
I still remember our conversations in the condolence tent in Demirci.
While the wounds may have healed for us, it’s important to ask those who experienced the earthquake and lost loved ones how they feel.
The earthquake, as you recall, caused significant damage in Okçular Village. At the time of the earthquake, Ayten ÇİÇEK, who was sleeping with her two sons, was trapped under the rubble with her younger son and lost her life. Her older son survived, albeit injured.
If we stretch our memories a little, we’ll recall the name Keko ÇİÇEK. After his treatment, Keko was in the news for quite some time.
Many people and organizations made promises to Keko. Keko even had the chance to play a match with his beloved Arda Turan. As time passed, we forgot both the earthquake and Keko. Keko couldn't remind us of himself, but the earthquake reminded us in Kütahya, Van, and Erciş.
The only way to avoid being affected, both physically and emotionally, by an earthquake seems to be living in earthquake-resistant homes.
In the earthquake-prone regions, earthquake-resistant houses were built, but unfortunately, no real steps have been taken for structural renewal, either in rural or urban areas, before the earthquake hit our country.
The structural performance situation in our country is almost identical in every settlement area. Even in the regions that are considered the safest, the history of proper building inspection is less than ten years old. In other words, we can state that a very large portion of our building stock lacks earthquake resistance.
Until this inadequate earthquake-resistant building stock is eliminated, our country will not be able to breathe easily. Because every earthquake takes lives, inflicts pain, and pushes our nation deeper into debt.
Of course, the scale of this inadequate building stock makes the work more challenging. However, we have to start somewhere. First and foremost, we must never remove this issue from our agenda. Keeping this problem on the agenda may, in fact, constitute half of the solution.
In our province, the situation with the building stock is no different from the rest of the country. Moreover, our region is constantly affected by earthquakes, and due to the fault lines beneath us and nearby, we are at serious risk.
It is impossible to renew all of Elazığ in a short time. However, there seems to be no other obstacle, other than our indifference, to starting the work as soon as possible. Only renewed buildings will allow us to survive a potentially destructive earthquake with minimal damage.
We all lived through the pain of the March 8, 2010 Başyurt-Karakoçan-Elazığ Earthquake together. If we don’t want to experience similar or even worse tragedies, the work that will be carried out by all concerned and responsible parties must start as soon as possible.
I once again pray for the souls of all our citizens who lost their lives that day, and I offer patience to their loved ones.