On 6 February 2023, 7.7 and 7.6 earthquakes and their aftershocks, centered in Pazarcık and Elbistan in Maraş, affected many provinces, districts and villages, including Adana, Adıyaman, Diyarbakır, Elazığ, Antep, Hatay, Maraş, Kilis, Malatya, Osmaniye and Urfa, killing at least 50,096 people according to official data (as of 20 March 2023). Then, on 20 February 2023, a 6.4 magnitude earthquake centered in Hatay, Samandağ killed at least 6 people. According to official data (as of March 14), 653,000 out of 1,805,842 buildings inspected in the earthquake zone were found to be heavily or moderately damaged or collapsed. Although there is no concrete data yet, approximately 2 million 200 thousand people migrated to other provinces immediately after the earthquake.
Approximately 10% of Turkey’s total surface area and 16.5% of the population (14 million 13 thousand 196 people) were affected by the February 6 and 20 earthquakes.
The earthquakes of February 6 and February 20 are natural phenomena. What happened afterward is a massacre that the political power, local governments, and capital have jointly created over time. Since 1999, those who have ignored all the calls of scientists, architects and engineers are primarily responsible for this massacre. Those who somehow managed to save their lives in cities and villages where aid did not reach for days were left alone against the cold, hunger and the cries for help of their relatives under the rubble. Whatever the official justifications, we know that more than a hundred thousand of our people have been killed and many more have been injured. This is not fate or disaster, but a clear “violation of the right to life.”
However, in the face of the inefficacy/incompetence or irresponsibility of the political power and its organs, we see the solidarity extended by the whole world and our people.
Since the first day of the earthquake, the efforts of civil society organizations, platforms and individuals have come to the forefront in the region, which the state did not reach in any way (and did not even make the necessary efforts to this end) in the first few days.
As of 12 March, the rains that started in the region led to a new disaster. On 13 March, tents were flooded due to heavy rain in İskenderun, Hatay. Many tents were left in mud and furniture became unusable. On 14 March, the tent city in Adıyaman’s Karapınar neighborhood was flooded.
At least 19 people lost their lives in Urfa and Adıyaman on 15 March as a result of floods caused by heavy rainfall. As with the earthquake, it was revealed that the problems caused by rainfall and flooding were mentioned in the “Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction Plan” drafted in 2021.[1]
- Interior Minister, Süleyman Soylu, was protested by citizens in Urfa, where he went after the flood disaster. Soylu called out to a citizen, “Keep your voice down.” Soylu said, “We will continue our work without embarrassing our nation by identifying the damages sustained by our nation and compensating them.”
- Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Vahit Kirişci evaluated the floods in Urfa and Adıyaman, where the death toll rose to 17. Kirişçi said, “There was a risk of drought. On the one hand, it took 15 of our lives, but on the other hand, the land got water.”
Our Losses, Our Works
Şeyhmus Günay, Mehmet Karlıdağ, Rafi Sümbültepe, İzzettin Özgüç, Sinan Serkan Arslan, Medine Taştan and her son Ali Adar Taştan in Adıyaman, Melike Alp and her son Baver Alp in Diyarbakır, Hüseyin İnan, his wife Melek İnan and his mother Cennet İnan in Antep, Hatice Can, former central executive board member, and her husband honorary board member Mithat Can in Hatay, Ali Kaya, Mehmet Ok, Salman Savranlı in Maraş lost their lives during the earthquakes in collapsed buildings.
On the day of the earthquake, İHD’s central executive board convened online and quickly took the necessary decisions to take action.
The buildings of the Adıyaman and İskenderun branches collapsed in the earthquake. The buildings of the Hatay, Malatya, Urfa and Maraş branches were severely damaged, while the Antep and Diyarbakır offices were slightly damaged.
Immediately after the earthquake, executives, members and volunteers from İHD’s headquarters and branches went to the earthquake zone and participated in relief efforts and made on-site observations. The observations and activities of the İHD delegations can be summarized as follows:
İHD Co-Chair Öztürk Türkdoğan, Secretary General Hüseyin Küçükbalaban and central executive board members Osman İşçi and Adnan Vural visited Hatay on the 6th day of the earthquake (February 11) and attended the funeral services of our members Hatice Can and Mithat Can.
Mehmet Zeki Tangüner, a member of the executive board, and Mehmet Akif Akın, a member of the Batman Branch, visited Adıyaman and its surroundings on February 12 and the following days;
İHD Mediterranean regional representative Bedri Kuran, honorary board member and Human Rights Foundation of Turkey (HRFT) regional coordinator Yasemin Dora Şeker, İHD executive board member İlhan Kılıç, İHD Mersin branch co-chairs Hakkı Demir and Zeynep Benli, İHD Hatay branch chair Mürsel Tonguç Salmanoğlu, İHD Hatay executive board member Salman Altınözü and İHD executive board member Servet Üstünakbaba have been in Hatay and its districts since February 8;
İHD co-chair Öztürk Türkdoğan, İHD Diyarbakır branch chair Abdullah Zeytun, İHD East and Southeast regional representative Mehmet Tahir Saçaklıdır and İHD executive board member Ercan Yılmaz monitored search and rescue operations in Malatya, Adıyaman and their districts and reported their observations. The delegation then visited the İHD branch and earthquake coordination center in Batman.
İHD executive board member Hamdi Bayhan, Şanlıurfa branch executive Ahmet Ceylan and Iğdır representative office executive Şaziye Önder visited Maraş and its districts.
İHD Co-Chair Eren Keskin, Secretary General Hüseyin Küçükbalaban and İHD East and Southeast regional representative Tahir Saçaklıdır visited the association’s local Diyarbakır and Urfa branches on February 24-26 and made observations and inquiries on the aftermath of the earthquake.
[1] https://www.birgun.net/haber/sel-felaketi-de-goz-gore-gore-geldi-yasanacaklar-madde-madde-yazilmis-425004
To read the full report click: İHD_Maras_Depremleri_On_Raporu