Turkey faces devastating earthquakes
leading Turkish seismologist Naji Göryur.
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“I’m not joking about this, because it’s clear what the next period will be. We are living in a stage where we are entering periods when strong earthquakes will begin to occur,” he said.
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According to the scientist, Istanbul should have been prepared for an earthquake by now.
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“I’m already wondering why we are waiting? <…> Istanbul is not yet fully prepared for the earthquake. Less compared to what needs to be done,” Göryur stressed.
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In March, Urban Development Minister Murat Kurum said the authorities planned to resettle about 1.5 million apartments located in non-seismic buildings.
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Istanbul’s opposition mayor Ekrem Imamoglu criticized the plans, drawing attention to the city’s overcrowding problems. According to the calculations of the mayor’s office, in the event of an earthquake of magnitude 7.5 in Istanbul, at least 90,000 buildings will collapse, and about 4.5 million people may need temporary housing.
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In April, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced plans to create reserve cities on the banks of the planned Istanbul Canal to resettle earthquake-dangerous areas.
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In early February, two earthquakes of magnitude 7.7 and 7.6 occurred in the province of Kahramanmaras in southeastern Turkey. The tremors, followed by hundreds of aftershocks, were felt in 11 provinces and neighboring states. More than 55,000 people died in the earthquake.
