The Great Destruction − Turkey in the Earthquake of the Century: A Health Sector Perspective

• Published in: Disaster medicine and public health preparedness 2024-04, Vol.18, p.e78, Article e78
• Main Authors: Ulutaşdemir, Nilgün, Kulakaç, Nurşen
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Disasters; Earthquakes; Earthquakes - statistics & numerical data; Emergency medical services; Emergency preparedness; Evacuations & rescues; Health services; Humans; Letter to the Editor; NGOs; Nongovernmental organizations; Population density; Search and rescue; Seismic activity; Turkey; Turkiye/Syria earthquake collection
• ISSN: 1935-7893; 1938-744X; 1938-744X
• DOI: 10.1017/dmp.2024.61

[...]disaster data for Turkey demonstrates that despite the low number of earthquakes, they are the type of disaster that causes the highest loss of life, and property. 1 Two earthquakes of magnitude Mw 7.7 and Mw 7.6 with epicenters at Pazarcık (Kahramanmaras) and Elbistan (Kahramanmaras) struck Turkey on February 6, 2023, at 4:17 AM and 13:24 PM, respectively. 2 Ten regions in the country were affected, causing a week of national mourning and a 3-month state of emergency. With the effect of aftershocks, the number of injured increased in proportion to the area and population density affected by the earthquake, resources decreased, and the need for intervention in the field increased due to the earthquake’s impact on health delivery centers. 2 Access to emergency health care has been difficult due to transportation and infrastructure damages in the health system. In addition to emergency health crisis management such as allocation of health services, construction of temporary health facilities, provision of medical/ surgical equipment, control, and preparation/ distribution of relief items including sanitation, water, shelter, and food, as well as clothing, and psychosocial support, are among the important issues to be addressed in the aftermath of the earthquake in country. 3 The search and rescue activities were carried out with great devotion after the earthquake by Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (Turkish: Afet ve Acil Durum Yönetimi Başkanlığı, also abbreviated as AFAD), non-governmental organizations (NGOs) under the supervision of AFAD, and National Medical Rescue Teams (Turkish: Ulusal Medikal Kurtarma Ekibi, also abbreviated as UMKE) consisting of medical personnel as activity partners.