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| Critics of President Erdogan attribute the significant loss of life to political factors. |
On Monday, Turkey was hit by two devastating earthquakes, the most severe the country has experienced since 1939. The first quake, which registered a magnitude of 7.8, struck at 4:17am, followed by another with a magnitude of 7.5 in a different location. The disaster has left thousands of people displaced and over 50 people dead, with many more missing and feared dead. The tragedy has raised questions about whether this scale of disaster could have been prevented and whether the government, led by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, could have done more to save lives.
Erdogan has admitted to shortcomings in the response to the disaster but has attributed it to fate. Despite his pleas for national unity, his future as president is now in jeopardy as elections loom on the horizon. The disaster response was delayed, with many villages still unable to be reached days after the earthquakes. The delay was due to damaged roads, which made it difficult for search and rescue teams to reach affected areas. The rescue operation eventually involved over 30,000 people from the professional and voluntary sector, as well as teams from other countries.
Turkey is no stranger to earthquakes, lying on two fault lines and having earthquake building codes dating back over 80 years. However, the intensity of this week's earthquakes was far greater than anything seen since 1939. The initial hours after the earthquakes were critical, but roads were damaged, making it difficult for search and rescue teams to reach affected areas. The founder of the main volunteer rescue group in Turkey believes that politics played a role in the delayed response. In the past, the armed forces have led rescue operations after major earthquakes, but the Erdogan government has sought to curb their power in society.
The responsibility for disaster response now falls on Turkey's civil disaster authority, with a staff of 10-15,000, and non-government groups such as Akut, which has 3,000 volunteers. The potential rescue effort was larger than in 1999, but the lack of military involvement in the planning process created a delay in the start of rescue and search operations. Despite having the largest search and rescue team in the world, President Erdogan has acknowledged that the response was not as fast as the government had wanted.
For years, Turks have been warned of the potential for a large earthquake, but most expected it to hit the North Anatolian fault, where most larger tremors have occurred in the past. In January 2020, after an earthquake hit Elazig, a geological engineer from Istanbul Technical University realized the risk of a future earthquake in the south-eastern region of Turkey. He warned the local and central governments to take action to prepare for an earthquake, but his warnings went unheeded.
One of Turkey's leading earthquake engineering specialists believes that the tragedy was due to building codes not being followed, blaming ignorance and ineptitude in the building industry. Turkish regulations updated in 2018 required high-quality concrete to be reinforced with ribbed steel bars, and vertical columns and horizontal beams to be able to absorb the impact of earthquakes. If the regulations had been followed, the expert believes that the damage would have been limited to the beams, rather than the columns collapsing, which led to heavy casualties. The justice minister has announced that anyone found to be negligent or at fault will be brought to justice.
Critics, including opposition party leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu, argue that after 20 years in power, President Erdogan's government has not adequately prepared the country for earthquakes. One major question is what happened to the large sums collected through two "earthquake solidarity taxes" created after the 1999 earthquake. The funds were meant to make buildings more resistant to earthquakes, but the government has never.
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