By Serra Yedikardes

In the wake of twin quakes that devastated southeastern provinces of the country, Turkey remains in the grip of earthquake fear. In this climate, the grassroots foundation SosyalBen has launched an initiative to prepare a roadmap to raise disaster-conscious generations.

In search of a way to formulate a clear action plan for the quakes, the foundation, which has been providing support and training for disadvantaged children across Turkey and eleven other countries, started organising a series of workshops to prepare Turkey’s growing young population for future shocks. The idea arose after the organisation witnessed the central role that local volunteers played in relief efforts during last year’s earthquakes. 

More than a year on from the February 6 2023 tremors, which killed an estimated 53,537 people in Turkey alone, the fear of earthquakes sits at the heart of people’s concerns about the future. This is especially the case in the economic and cultural capital, Istanbul. 

Even before February 6, experts have long been warning against the risk of a major earthquake due to hit Istanbul as it sits on the North Anatolian fault line with a population of over fifteen million people.

“Everyone talks about the destruction that will come with an earthquake. There is very little that all these experts say about what we can do to prepare,” Ece Çiftçi, the founder of SosyalBen, told me in an interview in London.

The scale of destruction faced on February 6 exacerbated these fears. Since last year, more than 100,000 Istanbul residents have appealed to the municipality to get their buildings’ safety checked following the tremors in the southeastern provinces of the country according to the deputy secretary-general of the Istanbul municipality, Bugra Gokce who talked to Reuters.

Many of those who can afford to have moved houses or left the city altogether – a phenomenon covered as the “earthquake migration” by the media in Turkey. But according to news reports, many others cannot move into newer buildings due to increasing housing prices in Istanbul.

SosyalBen aims to raise awareness about actions individuals can take before, during and after the earthquakes. The workshops ask the volunteers to think if they know their neighbours, the street names, safe spaces and assembly areas around their houses. The sessions also focus on getting people to identify buildings and public spaces that might be destroyed by a quake or block the rescue efforts in the cities. This way, the foundation aims to prepare the volunteers to demand from local authorities infrastructural projects that can prevent destruction and save lives during disasters.

According to Çiftçi, a lot can be done to prepare Istanbul for earthquakes if local governments and volunteers collaborate. 

“We live in an earthquake region. Being conscious of our city’s shortcomings and appealing to authorities to address them should be as natural as voting in elections,” said Çiftçi.

The volunteers who joined the workshops say they did not realise many people and institutions could be better equipped for earthquakes in Turkey before getting involved with SosyalBen. 

“I simply thought there was nothing anyone could do to prepare for an earthquake in Istanbul. It seemed like a problem no one could address,” said one SosyalBen volunteer who asked not to be named.

Now, at least she knows that she can ask her building administration and local municipality about their disaster agendas and bring them suggestions. 

However, another volunteer, who lost close family members from Hatay during last year’s quakes, says it will be difficult to get people to do things he learnt from SosyalBen workshops. He thinks people are hesitant to shoulder responsibility unless a change is legally implemented.

“No one wants to spend their money in fixing shelters in their apartments or taking the initiative to create a support network,” the volunteer says. 

Yet he knows much more about what he can do during an earthquake. 

“Before the workshop, I thought the best thing to do was to leave the city right after an earthquake. I am realising that this would be futile. Going to safe spaces and waiting for the aid to reach will create space for first aid crews,” the volunteer added.

While SosyalBen started a conversation about the role of local efforts in earthquake preparedness, seismologist Naci Görür said that it is important to urge authorities to build earthquake-prepared cities in a video interview with GazeteDuvar. With the approaching local elections, voting citizens have a lot of power to demand authorities to make our cities quake-resilient according to Görür. 

“Citizens should tell political parties they support that they will not vote for them if they do not have plans to make where they live quakeproof,” says Görür. 

In the run-up to the 31 March local elections, the mayor of Istanbul Ekrem Imamoğlu announced a 10-point plan Disaster Resilient Istanbul project in early February, promising to make earthquakes the highest priority in the municipality’s agenda. 

The ruling Justice and Development Party’s Mayoral candidate, Murat Kurum, promised to build 650,000 new houses and support renters and landlords for the renovation of another 250,000. However, in a speech last month, İmamoğlu said Kurum’s projects cannot be carried out under high inflation and current economic conditions. 

As projects to prepare Istanbul for a future earthquake claim a crucial place in the mayoral candidates’ campaigns, Çiftçi believes that the success of larger-scale projects lies in addressing local needs. Individuals and institutions at the grassroots can raise issues that bigger institutions cannot see – as demonstrated by SosyalBen’s Youth Volunteerism in Disaster Workshop Report. Therefore, the foundation aims to get people to think locally and give them the courage to take action.

“No one knows the cities and neighbourhoods better than their local residents as we witnessed in the February 6 earthquakes. This is why earthquake-conscious residents who are locally organised can be a great force for rescue,” concludes Çiftçi.