On the 13th anniversary of the 7.2 magnitude earthquake that struck Van, in eastern Türkiye, on Oct. 23, 2011, resulting in the loss of 604 lives, a memorial program was organized in coordination with the Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD), along with an earthquake drill.

Van experienced two earthquakes on Oct. 23, 2011, measuring 7.2 on the Richter scale, and on Nov. 9, 2011, measuring 5.6. In these earthquakes, 644 people lost their lives, and approximately 3,000 were injured. A total of 25 buildings in the city center collapsed, and hundreds of homes were severely damaged. Nearly one-third of the population of the Erciş district, which has a population of around 100,000, was left in ruins.

To commemorate the 13th anniversary of the earthquake that struck on Oct. 23, a memorial program and earthquake drill were held under the coordination of the AFAD in Van. The program began with a moment of silence and the reading of the National Anthem, followed by the recitation of the Quran and prayers.

During the program, Van AFAD Director Mehmet Ulutaş noted that the search and rescue team in the country increased from 93 individuals after the 1999 earthquake to 45,000 following the Feb. 6 earthquakes. He stated: "Our state established Civil Defense Search and Rescue teams in all 81 provinces, recognizing this as a necessity. Following the 1999 earthquake, NGOs also strengthened their capabilities in this regard. During the 2011 Van earthquake, approximately 1,700 search and rescue personnel were active in 34 debris sites. When we look at the Feb. 6 earthquakes, our country deployed around 45,000 search and rescue personnel in the field during this 'disaster of the century.'"

"The number of search and rescue personnel increased from 93 after the 1999 earthquake to 45,000. This demonstrates the importance our country and NGOs, as well as public institutions, place on this issue. While the number of search and rescue personnel in our country is 45,000, the average number of such personnel worldwide is around 600,000."

"Even if we had all the resources in the world to address the debris from the Feb. 6 earthquakes, we would still have fallen short, may God spare us from such disasters again, our province is not only an earthquake zone but also hosts all types of disasters, we continue our seasonal training for avalanche and flood search and rescue, with the beginning of winter, our avalanche search and rescue training will commence," Ulutaş continued.

"Last year, outside of AFAD, we established a 200-member avalanche search and rescue team in our province. This year, we aim to form 100-member avalanche search and rescue teams in all our districts. Our province is at risk not only from earthquakes but also from landslides, rockfalls, and soil erosion, hosting all types of disasters," he said.

Following the memorial program, an earthquake drill was conducted with the participation of search and rescue teams coordinated by the AFAD, including the Police Search and Rescue (PAK), Emergency Health Services (UMKE), Touching Life Search and Rescue (HADAK), the Rights Search and Rescue team, and teams formed within the Ministry of National Education.

The teams initiated practice search and rescue operations for six individuals "trapped" under the rubble of two buildings that collapsed due to a simulated earthquake of magnitude 6.2 "centered" in the Edremit district. Using a search and rescue dog, the teams located five "injured" individuals and one "deceased" person trapped on the third and fourth floors of the buildings. As part of the drill, the injured were extracted by UMKE teams and handed over to health teams for transport to hospitals.