The Directorate organised a trip to the earthquake zone in Kahramanmaraş for more than 100 national and international media members.
Ministry of Interior Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD) Director General of Earthquake and Risk Reduction Prof Orhan Tatar, Governor Mükerrem Ünlüer and Turkish Housing Development Administration (TOKİ) Vice President Osman Direnç briefed the media members about the earthquake zone at the Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD) Provincial Directorate's Meeting Hall.
Tatar stated that there is no other precedent in the world for earthquakes that occurred on February 6.
Emphasising that the earthquakes that struck on February 6 had a significant impact on a vast area, Tatar said:
"There is no other precedent in the world for a z-fracture of a total 570 kilometres in length occurring in the earth's crust and the surface crust being displaced by approximately 8 meters as a result of two earthquakes of magnitude 7.7 and 7.6, one of which occurred at 04.17 a.m. and the other at 01.24 p.m., approximately 9 hours apart. In this regard, the earthquakes that occurred on February 6 have been the sole precedent in the world. It impacted an area of around 120 thousand square kilometres. It encompasses an area that is three times the size of numerous European countries. The number of people affected by these earthquakes is 14 million. In terms of sociology, 85 million people were affected by these earthquakes. Damage assessments were carried out in a total of 18 provinces. 53,737 people lost their lives. I wish we hadn't lost even one of them. That's a significant figure. Around 107 thousand people were injured."
Tatar stated that the earthquake that struck on February 6 was responded to with 35,250 search and rescue personnel and that teams from 90 countries arrived in the region.
"97 per cent of the damaged buildings have been demolished"
When asked about the removal of rubble of damaged buildings, Tatar stated, "The removal of rubble of 97 per cent damaged and heavily damaged buildings has been completed throughout the region. This rate is observed to be consistent in Kahramanmaraş, where 97 per cent of the damaged buildings have been demolished. The remaining have been unable to be removed due to the ongoing legal process."
Emphasising that the Turkish nation has demonstrated a remarkable example of solidarity, Tatar stated that donations are shared on AFAD's website in 15-day increments.
''Aftershocks of February 6 are approximately 80-82 thousand''
Noting that public institutions and organisations received training, Tatar continued,
''Currently, the number of people trained in search and rescue has risen to 122 thousand. This number keeps rising daily. All we can hope for is that no major disasters occur and we would not need them. Of course, having such a team on call at all times is critical. We have accredited teams. This number is now around 10 thousand. Of course, improving capacity is vital, and I feel proud to report that we have Europe's largest earthquake monitoring network. We have approximately 1300 earthquake monitoring stations. The number of earthquakes from February 6 to today is 107 thousand. While we normally record between 23 and 24 thousand earthquakes per year, the number has now climbed to 107 thousand in two years as a result of the February 6 earthquakes. Currently, the aftershocks of February 6 are approximately 80-82 thousand."
TOKİ Vice President Osman Direnç said, ''As the ministry, we have tendered 459 thousand 403 houses thus far. Of these, we have completed 201 thousand houses across the country and begun to deliver them to citizens.''
In addition, Governor Mükerrem Ünlüer provided updates on the city's progress.
Following the addresses, over 100 media members from 11 different countries, notably Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Germany, Italy, Japan, and Greece, toured the completed or nearly completed houses.
The Directorate of Communications' International Media Coordinator, Gözdenur Kirişcioğlu, also attended the programme.
