06.02.2025 00:20
Turkey was shaken by earthquakes measuring 7.7 and 7.6 centered in Kahramanmaraş on February 6, two years ago. The earthquake caused destruction in 11 provinces and directly affected approximately 14 million citizens. A total of 53,537 people lost their lives, and 107,213 people were injured in the disaster.
Turkey was shaken by the pain of the earthquakes centered in Kahramanmaraş, which were described as the "disaster of the century," on February 6, two years ago, with magnitudes of 7.7 and 7.6. The earthquake caused destruction in 11 provinces. Due to the earthquake, which directly affected approximately 14 million citizens, Turkey issued a level 4 alarm, including international aid, and declared a national mourning period of 7 days across the country.
MORE THAN 53 THOUSAND CITIZENS LOST THEIR LIVES
In the disaster of the century that struck not only Kahramanmaraş but also Hatay, Osmaniye, Adıyaman, Diyarbakır, Şanlıurfa, Gaziantep, Kilis, Adana, Malatya, and Elazığ, 53,537 people lost their lives, and 107,213 people were injured.
After the earthquake, for which Turkey issued a level 4 alarm, including international aid, search and rescue teams from 93 countries participated in the efforts in the region. The earthquakes, which directly affected 14 million citizens in a total area of 120,000 square kilometers, caused severe destruction in 11 provinces, 124 districts, and 6,929 villages and neighborhoods. A national mourning period of 7 days was declared across the country, while a state of emergency was declared in the earthquake zone.
650 THOUSAND PERSONNEL WERE ON DUTY
Search operations were conducted in 39,000 rubble sites affected by the earthquakes, and search and rescue activities were carried out in 26,032 buildings where life was determined.
As part of the intervention efforts in the region, a total of 650,000 personnel were on duty, including 11,488 international personnel, 35,250 search and rescue personnel, and 142,000 security personnel. A total of 20,000 vehicles and heavy machinery, 141 helicopters, 182 planes, and 23 ships worked tirelessly to provide aid to the earthquake zone. The ships of the Naval Forces Command were dispatched to the region for assistance.
With air vehicles, sanitary evacuations, personnel transfers, material transfers, and firefighting activities were carried out, resulting in 17,500 sorties. Under the leadership of Turkish Airlines (THY), more than 2 million passengers and 712 cargo flights carrying 32,770 tons of aid materials were transported with 13,701 flights.
350 TENTS, 428 CONTAINER CITIES WERE ESTABLISHED
In the 11 provinces affected by the disaster, areas for tent and container cities were identified. Temporary shelter areas were created, and 1 million tents were dispatched, with 645,000 tents set up in 350 tent cities. Approximately 2.5 million disaster victims were provided with shelter.
A total of 1,188,218 disaster victims were hosted in facilities, with 477,952 people in the Credit and Dormitories Institution (KYK) dormitories and 710,266 people in the Ministry of National Education (MEB) dormitories.
Additionally, 220,000 containers were set up in 428 container cities. 707,000 disaster victims were hosted in these containers. In addition to shelter in the container cities, nutrition, education, health, and other social facilities were made available to citizens. Based on the needs of the citizens, 105,000 fans and 149,305 air conditioners were also installed in the established containers.
DAMAGE ASSESSMENT WORKS LASTED FOR MONTHS
As part of the damage assessment works carried out by the Ministry of Environment, Urbanization, and Climate Change in the earthquake zone, damage assessments were made in 2,381,888 buildings and 6,612,685 independent sections.
A total of 311,440 buildings and 810,902 independent sections were identified as urgently needing demolition, heavily damaged, or collapsed. The rubble of 60,763 buildings that were to be urgently demolished and collapsed was completely removed in 68 days. The number of heavily damaged buildings to be demolished is 200,167, and to date, the rubble of 182,773 heavily damaged buildings has been removed. In 18 provinces, 97% of the volume and 91% of the number of buildings have been cleared.
The process of determining property rights, which started on May 30, 2023, for 18 provinces, 179 districts, 8,474 neighborhoods, and 2,472 villages, was completed in 211 days.
During the property rights process, 845,371 applications were evaluated. All requests, consisting of 85 million documents, were reviewed by the relevant commissions. 70,000 commission decisions were made, totaling 15 million pages. 65% of the applications were received through e-Government, while 35% were received through the Disaster Management and Decision Support System (AYDES).
MORE THAN 40 THOUSAND SOLDIERS WERE ON DUTY
More than 40,000 soldiers, specialists, and technical personnel from the Turkish Armed Forces were on duty in the earthquake zone, including 57 battalions and 100 search and rescue teams. 29 search and rescue dogs also supported these efforts. As a result, 327 people were rescued from the rubble by the search and rescue teams.
Aerial assistance was provided through 65 planes, 71 helicopters, and UAVs, ensuring the transportation of search and rescue personnel and aid materials to the region, as well as the evacuation of the injured and those wishing to leave the area.