This was the worst – Mehmet Serbes
I have been in the journalism profession for over 40 years.
During this time, I witnessed so many events, I witnessed such events, I watched such cases that many of them are drawn with very thick lines in my memory.
The memories of the events are all important and special, but the events that affect me the most and that I can’t get rid of for a long time are of course the earthquakes that I witnessed closely.
The year was 1992. In the shaken city center of Erzincan, there was almost no stone left.
Hotels, dormitories, public buildings and houses were destroyed.
653 of our citizens were left under the rubble, and thousands of our citizens were injured.
I had worked day and night for a whole week in a city where there was no electricity, no drinking water, no place to stay, and where the shortage of fuel was at a high level, and I had brought news to my newspaper.
Years passed, this time Adana rocked like a cradle.
On Saturday, June 27, 1998, in the earthquake of 6.8 magnitude, the epicenter of which was Ceyhan, Adana shook like a cradle and 550 of our citizens lost their lives.
Search and rescue work was more primitive in those days.
Opportunities were more limited, and when the wounded could not find a place in hospitals, they were treated in gardens and open areas.
And finally, on Monday, February 6, 2023, at 04:17 am, the earthquake, the epicenter of which was Kahramanmaraş Pazarcık, was 7.7.
10 provinces, including Adana, were almost destroyed.
Adana had its share of the earthquake.
About 20 multi-storey buildings collapsed.
Many buildings were badly damaged.
Citizens threw themselves outside, ignoring the rainy weather.
Intervention was delayed again.
Rescuers could not reach the man in time, and those waiting to be rescued under the rubble were left to die in plain sight.
The Mayor of Adana Metropolitan Municipality, Zeydan Karalar, and the mayors of the districts were immediately transferred to the incident area, but they could not show the expected performance with the local power.
Because they didn’t have the means.
The state’s hand touched the wreckage too late.
Especially when the intervention to some apartments on Turgut Özal Boulevard was late, the number of funerals from here increased rapidly.
Meanwhile, many apartments in that vicinity, especially Süleyman Demirel Boulevard, became unusable because they were heavily damaged.
Authorities quickly emptied these places and put up safety lanes, forbidding anyone from entering.
We wish from Allah that these debris be removed as soon as possible and life in earthquake zones should return to normal.
However, I would like to draw attention to one thing here.
What will citizens do if their houses are destroyed or severely damaged?
What will these people do today, when rental houses reach astronomical numbers?
Come on, they found the rental house, how will they pay the rent, how will they get the furniture in it.
What will citizens who are not allowed to enter their homes do?
What will he eat, drink, wear, and shelter?
Since the state of emergency has been declared in the earthquake area, we expect these situations to be taken into consideration and a solution to this situation.
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