A United Nations drill for earthquake preparedness began on Monday in the Turkish capital Ankara. Search and rescue crews from 23 countries joined the three-day exercise to polish their skills. Among them were crews from Russia and Ukraine, currently on both sides of hostilities and both working to save potential victims of an ongoing conflict.
Under the coordination of Türkiye’s Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD), hundreds of participants simulated the response to an earthquake of magnitude 7.2 in the capital’s Kalecik district, among the "ruins" of buildings that collapsed in a simulated earthquake. The earthquake’s date was set as Oct. 8 under the scenario to give an extra challenge for crews combing the debris for survivors. Crews played out a scenario where Ankara, as well as the nearby provinces Kırşehir, Kırıkkale, Çankırı and Çorum, are affected and international support is sought by Turkish authorities.
Accompanied by search dogs sniffing the debris for survivors and high-technology equipment, crews examined slightly damaged and heavily damaged structures during the International Search and Rescue Advisory Group (INSARAG) exercise. Some crew members shouted "can you hear me" into the layers of the debris before they joined others in "listening" to the debris with sonar and seismic equipment. They scaled deep wells resembling the interior of collapsed buildings and carefully walked over the wreckage of multistory buildings razed to the ground. Cutting through iron and concrete, they worked to reach the "survivors" in the scenario.
For its part, Türkiye has sought to keep earthquake preparedness and response at its highest level since the 1999 earthquake, the deadliest in decades, which claimed thousands of lives in the northwestern region. The country has come a long way since the disaster, which forced it to overhaul its measures against the fallout of earthquakes. However, the danger is not over yet, especially for Istanbul, which was partially affected by the 1999 earthquake, experts say, pointing to the potential for an earthquake of similar magnitude in the near future in the Marmara region.
It took years for the state to heal the wounds of thousands of people by rebuilding towns, while the government ensured measures would be in place in a future disaster – unlike the 1999 earthquake when the state was criticized for its slow response. Disaster response agencies were centralized and improved while an ambitious "urban transformation" campaign is still underway, allowing people to replace their residences or shops unable to endure a future disaster with new, sturdy ones with assistance from the government.
Speaking at an opening ceremony for the exercise, Interior Ministry Süleyman Soylu, whose office also oversees the AFAD, said disaster management was one of the essential fields for international cooperation, "something that would contribute to peace and brotherhood." "The world has all the tools for effectively responding to any disaster but without inspiration in hearts, without feeling the need of responsibility to help people elsewhere in the world, it is not possible to bring assistance to people, either somewhere in Germany or in a village in Africa. Today, we are blessed to have people inspired by such feelings," he said. Soylu emphasized that Türkiye was known for its fast response to disasters across the world, citing the most recent assistance to Pakistan, which was hit by floods over the summer.
"International cooperation spontaneously emerges in disasters. So, disaster management has the potential for cooperation and goodness," he added.
Soylu said that though the AFAD was a "young" agency, its work gained momentum in a short time and it managed to introduce more awareness of the risk of disasters. He also hailed a disaster app by the AFAD, which shortened the time for a response during disasters for emergency calls from survivors.
"Field and tabletop exercises are certainly important but we achieve more experience when we face disasters. They motivate us to increase our capacity. For example, in the forest fires in Manavgat and Muğla, we noticed the need to increase our capacity," he said, mentioning that they added night vision to gendarmerie helicopters to help professional firefighters battle wildfires at night.
Speaking at the ceremony, Alvaro Rodriguez, U.N. resident coordinator in Türkiye, said Türkiye proved itself in its approach to crises in the world and humanitarian assistance. "It is truly amazing how much Türkiye progressed in the past decade in disaster response," he said. He added that the exercise was a good opportunity for Turkish and international search and rescue crews to interact and share their experiences.
Most of Türkiye is located on the Anatolian tectonic plate, which sits between two major plates, the Eurasian and African, and a minor one, the Arabian. As the larger African and Arabian plates shift, Türkiye is being literally squeezed, while the Eurasian plate impedes any northward movement. Thus, Türkiye sits on several fault lines. The most potentially devastating fault line in the country is the North Anatolian Fault (NAF), where the Anatolian and Eurasian plates meet. It runs from just south of Istanbul all the way to northeastern Türkiye. The NAF has produced devastating earthquakes throughout history. At the same time, the East Anatolian Fault stretches some 650 kilometers (around 400 miles) from eastern Türkiye's highlands to the Mediterranean, from where it turns southward and meets the northern end of the Great Rift system separating the African and Arabian plates. The strike-slip fault was formed millions of years ago as the Anatolian plate was being pushed northwestwards by the Arabian plate. Meanwhile, western Türkiye is also affected by another minor tectonic plate, the Aegean Sea Plate. An unfortunate tectonic location and a traumatizing history of deadly earthquakes have made the fear of tremors evident in everyday life as Turks are taught how to behave during earthquakes from a young age and many take certain precautions in case a quake suddenly strikes, such as preparing an emergency bag and establishing safety zones at home or work.