Istanbul hosts intensive earthquake evacuation exercise

Thousands of aid workers and other individuals took part in one of the largest earthquake preparedness exercises in Istanbul, a city that is expected to be hit by a major earthquake in the near future according to scientists.

Turkey’s Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) launched the exercise at 18 different locations in the city, including Istanbul Airport, with the Kaythane district on the European side of the city serving as the base of operations. Disaster and emergency management crews responded to a scenario in which an earthquake of magnitude 7.5 or higher hits a major city for an “evacuate, stay, and plan” exercise. The scenario focused on all 39 counties in the city and was the latest in a series of exercises conducted by the AFAD and other public agencies in its “Year of Exercises.”

Although search and rescue exercises were common, it was the first major evacuation for Turkey, which sought to overhaul its disaster response after one of the largest earthquakes in its history in 1999.

Along with disaster and emergency management, crews from municipalities and NGOs participated in the exercise while the residents of Kaythana were also given roles in the evacuation.

Istanbul, with a population of over 15 million, is the most populous city in Turkey and is constantly under threat from earthquakes. Multiple studies show the city will inevitably suffer a strong earthquake, and experts warn that it’s not a matter of “if” but rather “when.” Studies show that thousands of buildings are structurally unsound and cannot withstand a strong earthquake. The city was hit by a 5.8-magnitude earthquake in 2019, the largest in nearly two decades. Although the tremors were slight, they were enough to drive people into the streets, where memories of the 1999 earthquake are still vivid.

Turkey has suffered devastating earthquakes in the past, including the 7.4-magnitude earthquake in Golcuk in 1999 that killed more than 17,000 people in the greater region. The country is among the most seismically active regions in the world as it lies on several active fault lines, the most destructive of which is the North Anatolian Fault, the meeting point of the Anatolian and Eurasian tectonic plates.

The Ministry of Environment, Urban Planning and Climate Change already has an ambitious nationwide project to improve construction and safety standards for hundreds of thousands of homes, shops and offices. Over the past nine years, the ministry has evacuated or demolished 673,000 of those units, while work continues on the remaining buildings. The government has allocated more than 15 billion Turkish liras ($1.71 billion) for “urban transformation” projects covering about 5 million people in more than 1.3 million housing units. The operation aims to provide safe homes to at least 45% of the population.

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