READING NOW Celal Şengör Announced He Will Move From Istanbul Before The Marmara Earthquake
While wounds continue to heal throughout the country since the February 6 earthquakes, on the other hand, concerns about the Marmara earthquake are on the agenda. This region, where unplanned urbanization has spread very radically, is under great danger as experts have stated. Because the magnitude of the earthquake in question is not something to be taken lightly.
Many domestic and foreign experts are constantly voicing their warnings on this subject. On the other hand, they naturally take their own precautions. Most recently, earth scientist Prof. Dr. Celal Şengör explained why he was considering moving from Istanbul due to the earthquake, although he has a very solid house.
“A heavy smell will envelop the city”
Fatih Altaylı talked to Celal Şengör, whom he visited after a minor operation, and describes the conversation in his column as follows:
“He was thinking of moving the library to his summer house and settling somewhere around Çanakkale.
“Your house is solid. I know. The ground it’s on is solid, I know. “Why are you moving?” I asked.
“Because I know what Istanbul will become after the earthquake,” he said.
“Of course, the whole of Istanbul will not be razed to the ground. Mustafa Erdik was saying that 8,000 buildings would be like an accordion. This number will probably be higher. Although 60-70 thousand buildings will not collapse completely, they will be demolished. You will not be able to enter the streets for rescue work. A significant part of the roads entering and exiting the city will become unusable, and those who survive in the chaos that will emerge will be blocked for days, maybe weeks.
Electricity, water, sewerage and natural gas infrastructure of the city will be finished. There will be fires everywhere on the first day. These fires will not be able to be intervened because the fire brigade is under the rubble, the firefighters are either under the wreckage or cannot reach their vehicles under the wreckage.
No help will come from outside the city. Today, 60 percent of the aid and rescue teams going to earthquake areas leave from Istanbul. When Istanbul is destroyed, very few teams will come to Istanbul anyway, and those who come will not be able to enter the city.
Since the new airport is built on the embankment ground, it will probably be damaged and will be unusable for a while. We do not know what the roads connecting that airport to the city will be. Atatürk Airport, on the other hand, will only be able to provide half service since its best runway is broken.
In a few days, hunger will begin in the city. The raids will begin. Epidemics will follow. The debris will not be removed for a long time. The city will be covered with a heavy smell, it will become unbreathable.”
I blacked out in an instant.
“You’re describing something like a Mad Max movie,” I said.
“Exactly,” he said.
That’s why Celal Şengör was thinking of moving from Istanbul.
He was afraid not of the Istanbul Earthquake, but of its aftermath.”
Unfortunately, we were caught unprepared for the Kahramanmaraş earthquakes. We hope that lessons will be learned for the Marmara earthquake.
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