Turkey’s coast (Izmir) and north of the Greek island of Samos were struck by a 7 magnitude earthquake yesterday, in which homes were destroyed and many have been killed and injured.
Turkey claimed the magnitude was lower, at 6.6, but it is widely accepted that this is inaccurate. Prof Dr Övgün Ahmet Ercan from Istanbul Technical University spoke on Fox TV news in relation to the earthquake in Izmir, saying that the official figures by the Turkish government purposefully down played the strength of the earthquake, “there is a large difference between 6.6 and 7, one is almost the strength of 2 atomic bombs and the other is almost the strength of 40 atomic bombs”.
At least 25 people have died and 831 people were injured in the province of Izmir.
Ercan also said “For the earthquake problem to be resolved in this country you need to sort out the economy. The more poverty there is the closer an earthquake is. It is the poor that die in an earthquake, not the rich.”
Ercan added “You have never heard of a famous person or a wealthy person being pulled out from under the rubble, and you will not because in the making of the building they won’t have tried to save money. Earthquakes are a problem for the poor. For as long as we don’t defeat poverty earthquakes will mean death.”
