Habibe Eren

 

ISTANBUL - Drawing attention to the possible earthquakes to be experienced in Marmara and other regions in the 22nd year of the Gölcük earthquake, Esin Köymen, Chairperson of TMMOB Istanbul Large City Branch, stated that the existing risks continue exponentially.

 

It has been 22 years since the earthquake, the epicenter of which was Kocaeli-Gölcük on August 17, 1999. The earthquake with magnitude of 7.4, which was felt throughout the Marmara Region and according to official records, went down in history as the second largest earthquake in the history of Turkey.

 

The earthquake, which occurred with the rupture of the North Anatolian Fault Line, caused loss of life and property in Istanbul, Bursa, Bolu, Eskişehir, Kocaeli, Sakarya and Yalova, where 14.5 million people lived at that time. According to official figures, 18373 people lost their lives and 48901 people were injured in the earthquake. 5840 people disappeared.

 

According to the report published in July 2010 by the Parliamentary Research Commission, which was established to determine the precautions to be taken in earthquake management by investigating the earthquake risk, 364,905 houses and workplaces were destroyed or damaged at various levels in the earthquake. The Chamber of Geological Engineers, in its report published in 1999, listed the three most important factors that increase the loss of life as active fault zone, watery alluvial soil and construction faults.

 

Despite the fact that there have been many earthquakes in the 22 years since the earthquake and it is stated that the big Istanbul earthquake is getting closer every day, the political power ignores the earthquake reality. Esin Köymen, Chairperson of the Union of Chambers of Turkish Engineers and Architects (TMMOB) Istanbul Large City Branch, made assessments on possible earthquakes on the anniversary of the 1999 earthquake and the government’s policies in this area.

 

‘Stream beds are not emptied, rural areas are opened for construction’

 

Pointing out that the practices implemented in terms of zoning activities and city plans after 1999 made cities more vulnerable to disasters, Esin said: ‘’This has also emerged in the last floods we experienced. In the earthquake of 17 August, it was clearly stated that not only the earthquake but also other disasters could happen from now on. We have stated that residential areas and urban planning in urban and rural areas should no longer be based on rent, that it is not right for the construction industry to directly make all kinds of investors a profitable area, and that this also brings irregularity. At this point, we see that the stream beds are not emptied and rural areas are opened for construction.’’

 

‘The groundwork has been prepared for the disasters’

 

Emphasizing that all ampty spaces belonging to the public in the city are being used up for construction, Esin said that turning the lands in the city directly into a rent and adding the rural area to this has paved the way for the disasters experienced today. Esin stated that with the ‘’Zoning Amnesty’’ regulation introduced in 2018, all illegal structures were encouraged by the Ministry of Environment and Urbanization to obtain a ‘’building registration certificate.’’ She continued: ‘’The government does not undertake this result, which cost the lives of tens of people. Only statements such as ‘the wounds will be healed’ are made. We have seen once again how wrong the urbanization policies of the government have been.’’

 

‘All disasters affect subgroups’

 

Esin emphasized that with the areas opened for new construction after the 1999 earthquake, the urbanization of the stream beds and places close to the fault line, and the protection of the structures built in the landslide areas, pawed the way for all disasters will be experienced. She contineud: ‘’All disasters mainly affect the areas where the lower income groups live more. Because after the earthquake, the wealthy took some precautions so that they could live in the city, especially in newer buildings on more solid grounds, but such an opportunity did not exist for the poor. On the other hand, the city became denser and the existing structures got older. All the taxes that are still being collected during this process were not used to make the cities healthier.’’

 

‘Existing risks continue exponentially’

 

Esin pointed out that the consequences of an earthquake that will affect the whole of the Northern Marmara or the Marmara Region will be devastating when we look at the present day from the earthquake, and said: ‘’We were not more prepared for this. Moreover, reinforcements were made on public buildings for a while, but they could not be completed in a healthier way. There are problems in hospital structures, no one talks about prisons. The primary transportation axles to be used to evacuate the area in the event of a disaster became more problematic as they were mostly used as roadsides and parking lots. Since no evacuation can be made in areas where structuring is risky, the existing risks continue exponentially. In fact, after the 1999 earthquake, every time there was an earthquake, nothing that scientists came out and told was used by the government for a healthy urbanization policy.’’