The Chamber of Mining Engineers of Turkey has participated in the search and rescue operations in the earthquake zone and published the “Preliminary Investigation Report for the Earthquakes of February 6, 2023” on February 11, 2023.
The report from the ground points out that the poor disaster response of the government and organisational structure of the Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) magnified the death toll and scale of destruction and the region is facing severe challenges in the aftermath of the tremors.
The report says: “The first 36 hours, which are extremely important in search and rescue efforts, were lost, and rescue efforts only began in the earthquake zones, especially in the districts, from the afternoon of the second day.”
Engineers specify that “AFAD’s method of reaching the person by drilling a hole from the top of the wreckage” caused additional loss of life and the Disaster Authority also intervened with the miners’ rescue methods in the debris. As a result, the miners were not able to save more people. It was underlined that AFAD also prevented the participation of civil society’s post-disaster assistance efforts. The report indicates that tents and toilets availability is currently the biggest problem in the region.
The death toll of the earthquake which hit Turkey and Syria on Monday has now surpassed 33,000 people.
