Turkey's Earthquake Preparedness Plan
Turkey is the 9th country that is prone to earthquakes. Turkey falls within the seismic zone between Arabian, Eurasian and African plates. It’s very geographic location implies that an earthquake can hit the country at any point of time. Turkey is one of the most vulnerable countries to natural disasters, especially earthquakes. More than 80% of the population lives in areas prone to natural disasters, such as earthquakes, floods and landslides.
Turkey has taken this as a challenge they were willing to face. Earthquakes are associated with damage and loss wherever they may occur, the destructive effects of those in Turkey are exacerbated by the large volume of code incompliant buildings constructed with poor materials and workmanship. For years, they have been working on that and had a law in preparation for that. It has been there for years and it just got updated in 2018. That is the "Turkish Building Code" and it focuses on the engineering structure of the buildings to lessen the damages and the chances of collapsing.
The materials being used in most of the residential structures in Turkey is made out of cement and masonry. Those materials being mixed with steel can certainly be an earthquake safe structure but that definitely depends on how you work with what you have. How often you get your building assessed and etc.
In preparation and because it’s vulnerability to many natural disasters like earthquake, Turkey has advanced disaster risk management (DRM) through initiating reforms to better-manage and reduce disaster risk and strengthens institutions for more proactive DRM. The country’s government has established agencies to respond to these disasters and to overcome institutional fragmentation. They established the Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD) in 2009. In 2015, the government adopted the Turkey National Disaster Response Plan to guide all disaster and emergency response.
Turkey has taken this as a challenge they were willing to face. Earthquakes are associated with damage and loss wherever they may occur, the destructive effects of those in Turkey are exacerbated by the large volume of code incompliant buildings constructed with poor materials and workmanship. For years, they have been working on that and had a law in preparation for that. It has been there for years and it just got updated in 2018. That is the "Turkish Building Code" and it focuses on the engineering structure of the buildings to lessen the damages and the chances of collapsing.
The materials being used in most of the residential structures in Turkey is made out of cement and masonry. Those materials being mixed with steel can certainly be an earthquake safe structure but that definitely depends on how you work with what you have. How often you get your building assessed and etc.
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| "Turkey" photo by Rueters |
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| "Turkey: National Disaster Response Plan" |
Turkey didn't have the best record from the previous earthquakes they had. Destruction was there and all but over the years they have improved. This video shows a little bit of the history about the countries earthquakes.
Based on the information the earthquakes that make Turkey such a vulnerable place, the country is a dangerous area to be in especially during earthquakes on our point of view to this study. Because the country contains two large plates that are grinding against each other. This type of boundary is called Transform Boundary and this could make more faults. This makes Turkey very dangerous. Turkey being very prone to earthquakes alerted them. Prepared for upcoming quakes. I never knew that there are awards that show appreciation for how prepared you are for earthquakes. Turkey got a few. Turkey was awarded for the following awards:
- City Resilience Program: Program Development and Advisory Services Support
- Strategies and Options for Scaling Up Disaster Risk Management in ECA Countries
- Developing the South East European Multi-Hazard Early Warning Advisory System - Phase II
- Support to Building Resilience and Mainstreaming DRM into Education Infrastructure in Turkey
- Improving Resilience and Resilience Impact of National Land and Geospatial Systems
- Building Resilience in Education Infrastructure for Public Schools
- City Resilience Program: Phase 1
- Building Resilience in Turkey
As you can see, Turkey has quite a reputation when it comes to how prepared they are for any calamity that comes in their way and it’s quite overwhelming.
Philippines and Turkey are both prone to earthquakes. Philippines being the 5th country that is prone to earthquakes also had them very prepared. They had quite similar plans for evacuation. Philippines lies on the edge of the Pacific plate, which is traditionally a seismic hot zone that encircles the state. The danger posed by earthquakes to Manila is threefold. It is, of course, snug with the Pacific Ring of Fire, making it especially susceptible not only to quakes, but also to volcanic eruptions. The threat to Manila is worsened due to its soft soil, which presents the risk of ground liquefaction. With that situation and those threats, it made Philippines open their eyes and made them realize that they have to play their A game on when there are calamities. For the main priority of every country is the safety of the people.
Philippines' preparedness activities are organized by the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) and the Philippines Disaster Resilience Foundation (PDRF). The country undergoes plenty of drills to let people be aware of what to do during and after an earthquake. Same as Turkey, they also have an agency for disaster risk reduction and management which is Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD). Both preparation are quite similar.
The preparation of these countries may change or improve in the next following years and though they may have not reached their highest potential in preparing, it is significant that both countries are giving attention and importance in responding for natural disasters.
All in all, we mostly think that Turkey is very prepared towards Earthquakes. Their situation already alarmed them and to think that they are part of the Top 10 countries that are prone to Earthquakes, this has clearly been shown to them that they have to take matters into their own hands.
Their buildings are strong enough that it could withstand an earthquake but that depends on how strong the earthquake in. I mean, if you think of it, it only takes a matter of time until a building collapses. Turkey was given recognition for having a very resilient. ‘City Resilience Program: Program Development and Advisory Services Support’ that is one of their awards for being very prepared and to be a country recognized for that, I would be very proud.
After all the, research and article reading, we can conclude that Turkey is one of the countries that are most vulnerable to earthquakes. And because of it's geographical location, people of Turkey will continue to experience major quakes over the next following years. Possibly, after all the experiences, the country's way of being ready and responding to earthquakes may improve. Without the Risk Reduction Projects in the country, results will become worse and recovery will surely take long years. Therefore, preparation is crucial in risk and danger reduction. Whether the country you're living in is prone to natural disasters or not, it is always important to be prepared. natural disasters are unpredictable and inevitable and being unprepared will only make everything worse. Preparedness is the only way we can combat a natural disaster.
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