Most people spent Wednesday night outside in Gölyaka, the district nearest to the epicenter of the 5.9 magnitude earthquake that shook Düzce and other further cities, from Istanbul to Bursa.
Despite cold weather, occasional rainfall and relatively low damage to buildings, many shunned going back into their homes and took shelter in tents provided by authorities. Aftershocks, in the meantime, justified their fears while authorities urged people to stay away from damaged buildings.
The Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) reported at least 212 aftershocks after the first earthquake, with the biggest aftershock at a magnitude of 4.3.
AFAD set up tents in 10 different locations for locals. Gölyaka Mayor Yakup Demircan told Demirören News Agency (DHA) that although the anxiety about the earthquake was fading, younger people were understandably concerned as they did not experience the “1999 earthquakes.” Düzce went through two major earthquakes that year within a span of three months and they were far bigger and more devastating for the northern province.
Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu, who was among the first high-ranking officials to arrive at the scene of the earthquake on Wednesday, paid a visit to locals staying in tents on Thursday.
“I slept sound here. I wouldn’t have been able to do it at home,” Muteber Gedik, a local who spent the night in a tent with her family said. “Some houses are damaged. I don’t know about it mine and don’t know when we will go back. I stay here with my children and grandchildren. They have to go to school and we have business to attend to,” she said. Schools were closed in Gölyaka until Friday.
“I feel fine but the weather was a bit cold. We are scared because of aftershocks,” said Meryem Yıldız, who was staying in a tent with her children, mother and siblings.
AFAD, the municipality and the Turkish Red Crescent (Türk Kızılay) are providing food and other basic needs for people in the town of about 20,000 people. Local authorities also opened a sports hall in the town to accommodate residents. Elsewhere, crews from the Ministry of Environment, Urban Planning and Climate Change examine the damage to buildings.
The Health Ministry announced 93 people were injured in the earthquake, mostly those who hurt themselves while fleeing in panic and jumping from windows. One person has died in Düzce in such a case. Fourteen people are still being treated for injuries while others were discharged.
Minister of Environment, Urban Planning and Climate Change Murat Kurum announced earlier that the crews found damage in 321 buildings so far and that five buildings in Gölyaka were heavily damaged, making them uninhabitable.
Experts tie the relatively low damage to the presence of newer buildings in Düzce, which were built after the 1999 earthquake and in line with new building standards requiring them to be more resilient in earthquakes.
Preparedness against earthquakes is vital for Türkiye, which sits on a number of active fault lines, particularly in its northern and northwestern regions. The country and its immediate region have experienced 226 earthquakes with a magnitude of 6.0 or higher in the past 122 years. Some 20 earthquakes in this period with magnitudes of 6.5 or above inflicted thousands of losses. The worst was in 1939 in the eastern province of Erzincan. The 7.9 magnitude earthquake claimed about 33,000 lives. The worst in recent memory was in 1999, in Gölcük, west of Düzce and claimed more than 17,000 lives.
Türkiye conducts campaigns to raise awareness about earthquakes and on Nov. 12, the anniversary of the deadly Düzce earthquake in 1999, organized a nationwide “drop, cover and hold” drill.
