Turkey was hit a year ago by two powerful earthquakes, magnitudes 7.7 and 7.6, with devastating consequences in 11 provinces. The earthquake, which was characterized as the “disaster of the century”, directly affected 14 million citizens. Turkey declared a level four alert, including international aid, and seven days of national mourning were declared throughout the country.
On February 6, 2023, at 4:17 a.m. local time, Turkey was hit by a 7.7-magnitude earthquake in the Pazarcik district of Kahramanmaras, and at 1:24 p.m. in the Elbistan district, a second earthquake of 7.6 degrees on the Richter scale occurred.
In the “disaster of the century” that hit Kahramanmaras, as well as Hatay, Osmaniye, Adiyaman, Diyarbakir, Sanliurfa, Gaziantep, Kilis, Adana, Malatay and Elazig, 53,537 people lost their lives and 107,213 were injured.
After the earthquake, which was declared on the fourth level of preparedness, including international assistance, search and rescue teams from 93 countries participated in rescues in the region.
The earthquakes, which directly affected 14 million people in an area of 120,000 square kilometers, caused heavy destruction in 11 provinces, 124 districts, 6,929 villages and districts.
While seven days of national mourning were declared throughout the country, a state of emergency was declared in the earthquake region.
After the earthquake, all public institutions, local governments, non-governmental organizations and volunteers were mobilized, and aid was sent to the region, including water, food, medicine and clothing.
The search was carried out in 38,901 buildings destroyed by the earthquake, and search and rescue operations in 26,000 buildings where it was determined that there were survivors under the ruins.
650,000 rescuers participated in the interventions
A total of 650,000 members of various relief, search and rescue teams, including 11,488 members of international staff, worked in interventions in the region.
645,000 tents were placed in 350 tent cities in the region, and 215,224 containers were placed in 414 container cities.
106.7 billion Turkish lira resources were transferred to the region
As part of the temporary shelter service, a total of 14 billion 453 million lira (about 440 million euros) of “rent support payments” have been paid to 349,000 households. In this context, the payment of rent support of 7,500 lira to house owners (about 230 euros) and 5,000 lira (about 150 euros) to tenants continues.
Together with other aid and payments, a total of 106 billion 728 million lira (about 3.25 billion euros) was transferred to the earthquake area.
Damage assessment has been carried out on 2.30 million buildings, and so far 91 percent of the process of removing rubble in the earthquake-affected regions has been completed.
As part of efforts to heal the wounds of citizens affected by the earthquakes, construction has begun on 307,000 houses in urban centers and villages in the affected areas.
In this context, in the reconstruction projects in the region, 750,000 lira grants (about 22,800 euros) and 750,000 lira loans were provided for apartments, 750,000 lira grants and 1 million lira (about 30,400 euros) loans for rural houses with barns, and 400,000 for business premises. lira grant (about 12,200 euros) and the same amount of credit with a grace period of two years and an interest-free maturity of 10 years.
BHRT and pomozi.ba
Radiotelevision of Bosnia and Herzegovina – BHRT, in cooperation with the Association Pomozi.ba, organized a humanitarian campaign to collect money for the victims of the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria, which lasted from March 1 to March 31, 2023.
After updating the data on the funds collected as part of the humanitarian campaign, BHRT and Pomozi.ba announced that over 900,000 BAM had been collected.
The live program lasted more than three hours, and was realized with the help of a large team of BHRT from all parts of our country, and people from all spheres of public life participated, BHRT writes.
