Page 207 - Çevre Şehir İklim İngilizce - Sayı 4

İrşade Aydoğdu Gürbüz - Banu Aslan

The Kahramanmaraş earthquake is a level four disaster according to the
Türkiye National Disaster Response Plan (TAMP). In such a disaster at this level,
which requires international assistance for emergency response operations
after the earthquake, the local units in the region struck by the earthquake are
also regarded as the victims of the disaster. For this reason, local teams are
not expected to show much presence in the search and rescue and damage
assessment processes The bureaucrats responsible for coordination and
to serve at this stage will be trained by the YIGM, and they are assigned as
coordinators for each province and some remote districts, as well.
Many provinces were affected simultaneously by the earthquakes called
the catastrophe of the century, and resulted in heavy damage and loss of lives.
Therefore, the initial declaration of 11 provinces as zone of disaster affecting
the public life by AFAD on 03.04.2023 was extended to cover 17 province and
one district with the declaration, “Upon the destruction and loss of lives due
to the earthquakes struck on 06.02.2023, 11 provinces plus Gürün District of
Sivas are regarded as the Zone of Disaster Affecting the Public Life”.
These earthquakes have also affected some other provinces except for
these 11 provinces, and as a result of damage assessment studies; It has been
determined that there are minor, moderate or severely damaged buildings
in some residential units located in the provinces of Bingöl, Kayseri, Mardin,
Tunceli, Niğde and Batman.
For this reason, settlements where there are damaged buildings in the
mentioned provinces have also been accepted as Zones of Disaster Affecting
The Public Life.” (“AFAD”, 2023).
As it can be seen, after the disasters that caused damage only in a certain
area of the city and the district, the decision of “affecting the public life”
is made for the whole city. Therefore, all structures (approximately 2,340,000
buildings) in cities declared as zones of disaster affecting the public life
were visited and checked by damage assessment teams one by one. These
assessments showed that this situation led to make assessments even in
regions that were not affected by earthquakes. It is necessary to use the
resources of our country effectively and efficiently. This situation leads to a
serious waste of resources. In addition, examining all buildings make citizens
think that this is a performance analysis and their buildings are resilient to
the future earthquakes. Thus, citizens do not get their buildings, that may be
damaged in other earthquakes, undergone a performance analysis.
Damage assessment studies conducted after natural disasters constitute
the basis of an effective response and recovery process. This process requires
the rapid assessment of damage, determination of the degree of damage and
directing the resources effectively.

196 The Journal of Environment, Urban and Climate