On 6 February 2023, Earthquakes struck Turkey and Syria with magnitude 7.8 and 7.7 at 04:17 and at 13:24 respectively. The Epicenter was 37 km from Gaziantep (a major city in south-central Turkey). There were more than 10,000 aftershocks within three weeks that followed. Till 20th March 2023, more than 50,000 deaths were confirmed in Turkey, and more than 7,200 in Syria, making it the deadliest natural disaster in modern history.
The collapse of many newly constructed buildings caused public anger and doubts about the Turkish construction and contracting industry following seismic codes. There were complaints that the building codes were poorly enforced. Critics of President Erdogan said contractors of housing projects were allowed to skip vital safety mandates which put residents at risk
AFAD, the state organ for disaster relief, was criticized on the grounds of slowness during the first days of the earthquake. Another criticism was the late deployment of military resources. They were not mobilized for two days after the earthquake, and even then in what many considered in very modest amounts
All these things are considered to be the cause of such a huge number of casualties, though the credibility of these statements cannot be confirmed right now.
Concerns arose regarding the possible spread of infection in areas where sanitation facilities were damaged or nonfunctional. The World Health Organization said clean water shortage “increases the risk of waterborne diseases and outbreaks of communicable diseases.”
Now after having an overview of Turkey-Syria earthquake, first of all I would like to request everyone to help the people of Turkey and Syria. Other thing that I want to convey here is, that we should be prepared for the disasters. Though we cannot avoid / prevent earthquakes but we can reduce the losses. Therefore we should:-
- Stick to the building codes.
- Be aware of ‘what to do during an earthquake’.
- Keep ready an emergency plan.
- Keep an earthquake kit/ emergency kit/ first aid kit ready.
I have already worked on each of the above topics separately. you can check my previous posts for the detailed information.
Share information, Save lives.
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Earthquake kit
Earthquake kit is an essential preparedness tool that ideally every household should have. It can help us in the aftermath of an earthquake and increases chances of survival manifold in adverse conditions, till the help arrives. I myself is going to pack the one for my family and planning an additional one to put in…
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Mock drill on Earthquake
Mock Drills Calendar Himachal Pradesh As per the directives laid down by the HP State Disaster Management Authority (HPSDMA), all schools must conduct emergency mock drills at least four times a year. 4th April (Anniversary of Kangra Earthquake of the year 1905) and 13th October (International Day for Disaster Reduction) are two of the four…
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