ANKARA,18th March, 2023 (WAM) – The Turkish Communications Directorate released a new book, Disaster of the Century: February 6, 2023 Kahramanmaras Earthquakes, that revealed the measures taken by Türkiye to rehabilitate the victims of last month’s disaster.
The book, published on Friday in Turkish, English and Arabic, consists of six parts: About the Earthquakes that Occurred on February 6, 2023 In Kahramanmaras, Understanding the Disaster of the Century, Search and Rescue Activities After the Earthquake, Disaster Communication and Combating Disinformation, Post-earthquake Solidarity, and Post-earthquake Reconstruction and Recovery Efforts.
The book praised the efforts of international search and rescue teams that came to Türkiye after responding to the country’s international call for help.
It also includes detailed scientific data on the earthquake as well as the destruction caused by the disaster and its effects on natural, historical and cultural assets throughout the region.
In the book, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said: “From the first moment of the earthquake, we have mobilised all our resources as the state and as the nation. We have directed all the search and rescue, aid and support capacities of our ministries, institutions and organisations to the earthquake area.”
“We quickly dispatched professional search and rescue teams responding to our international call for help with nearly 11,500 personnel from 90 countries, including NATO and the European Union, to the field. Thus, with a total of 35,000 people, we assembled an unprecedented search and rescue force in the world,” he added.
Erdogan stressed the government has “the resolve and power to remedy all the destruction and damage. At the moment, we are focused on healing the wounds in the earthquake area and quickly remedying all the losses of the country.”
“With the lessons we have learned and the motivation given by our confidence in our future, we can turn this great disaster we have experienced as a nation into an occasion for a bigger breakthrough,” he added.
More than 48,400 people were killed in Türkiye by magnitude 7.7 and 7.6 quakes that hit on Feb. 6, according to officials.
Over 13.5 million people have been affected in Türkiye by the massive quakes which struck the provinces of Kahramanmaras, Hatay, Gaziantep, Adiyaman, Malatya, Adana, Diyarbakir, Kilis, Osmaniye, Sanliurfa, and Elazig.