Türkiye's earthquakes ‘destructive and terrible': Seismologist

ANKARA/ISTANBUL

The 7.7 and 7.6 magnitude earthquakes that shook southern Türkiye last week were “destructive and terrible,” a seismologist said while explaining the reasons behind their severity.

"If an earthquake of this magnitude strikes relatively close to the surface and right near or under a city or region, then the result of this can be dramatic. As you have seen, devastating and terrible," Suzan van der Lee, a seismologist and geophysicist at Northwestern University in the US state of Illinois, told Anadolu.

Noting that people need to be wary of buildings following an earthquake because they may have sustained damage, van der Lee expressed caution due to aftershocks that could still result in the collapse of a building.

In addition, in the case of the earthquakes in southern Türkiye, she said two back-to-back large earthquakes, as happened last Monday, are not typically how earthquakes take place.

“This is not typically what happens with an earthquake. Typically, there is a main shock, then a series of aftershocks,” she said.

Van der Lee referred to the July 2019 earthquakes in Ridgecrest, California, which she said she recalled following the earthquakes in Türkiye, noting the difference between the two quakes was that "it was a remote region of California. It was not a region of 10 cities and millions of people living in vulnerable buildings around it."

On July 4-5, 2019, magnitude 6.4, 5.4, 7.1 and 5.5 quakes rattled the city of Ridgecrest in the state of California, killing one person and injuring 25.

Van der Lee also said that the commitment of the international community to send support to Türkiye in the form of rescue teams was “a good way to see the world come together in a disaster.”

"Countries from the east like India, countries from the west as far as the US, even from the north like Ukraine, which is in the middle of a war…(as well as) other countries have committed help and rescue teams to send to Türkiye,” she said.

She further noted that most people around her were in shock due to the news of the earthquakes because they had acquaintances from the disaster area.

At least 29,605 people were killed by last Monday’s earthquakes, the country's disaster agency said Sunday.

The magnitude 7.7 and 7.6 quakes, centered in the Kahramanmaras province, affected more than 13 million people across 10 provinces, also including Adana, Adiyaman, Diyarbakir, Gaziantep, Hatay, Kilis, Malatya, Osmaniye and Sanliurfa.

Several countries in the region, including Syria and Lebanon, also felt the strong tremors that struck Türkiye in the space of fewer than 10 hours.

‘Experts are doing their best for effective disaster management’

A professor of risk management separately said that the regions impacted by the quakes were included in the Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency’s (AFAD) primary earthquake risk zone.

"When we look at the current studies led by AFAD, we can say that our experts are doing their best for effective disaster management and coordination," Ayse Yildiz, a professor of risk management at Leicester University, told Anadolu.

Yildiz also said that it is not possible to say that the earthquakes in the region were a surprise, as many earthquakes with a magnitude above six have occurred in the region since the beginning of the 20th century.

“Unfortunately, we do not have any technology to predict earthquakes today. They will continue because earthquakes are natural events," she further noted.

Yildiz added that there is still a lot to be learned.

“When we consider the magnitude of the disaster we are facing, it is not difficult to guess that this coordination is not so easy."

She also said it is not surprising that many volunteers want to go to the disaster area because Turkish society is one of the communities that best offers help and solidarity in difficult times.

"Those who want to help voluntarily should definitely cooperate with authorized organizations or disaster management teams," she said.​​​​​​​