Willful Ignorance -An Analysis of the Earthquakes in Turkiye Between 1999 and 2023 and Their Battles with Their Faults
Willful Ignorance
An Analysis of the Earthquakes in Turkiye Between 1999 and 2023 and Their Battles with Their Faults
Bora Sinan
Natural Disasters and Society
(HIST486D)
Key Words: Turkiye, Earthquake, Government, 2023 Turkiye-Syria Earthquake, 1999 Golcuk Earthquake, Ignorance, Misconduct, Corruption
Abstract
The government of Turkiye has been ignoring the reality of earthquakes in the geographic location that Turkiye is present in, and that ignorance is causing more damage than any earthquake can possibly cause. Scientists, architects, politicians from the opposition, the public, and even children at school are trying to point out the danger that they are in, but the personal ambitions of the government always get ahead of the rational way of governing.
Introduction
People living in Turkiye woke up in the dead of night with a horrible noise and trembling on the ground. Even before they could do anything about the situation, thousands of lives were already lost to the catastrophic event they encountered. Before we dive further into what happened, it is only acceptable that we know what has happened before. Turkiye, being a part of the Middle East, lies on top of many fault lines that surround the earth. On a yearly basis, the country experiences thousands of minor and a few major earthquakes. The probability of an earthquake happening is not an “if” for them. It is only a matter of "when." This research paper will address the major earthquakes Turkiye has experienced in the last two decades and how they managed to survive through the catastrophic events they experienced.
Just as with other natural disasters in our lives, earthquakes are not preventable, but efforts to mitigate the possible damages caused by the earthquakes are well within our capacity. Many countries with a past full of earthquakes have managed to develop additional methods and procedures so that when they experience another earthquake, whether it is minor or destructive, they will go through it with as little damage as they can. Turkiye, on the other hand, has been struggling with “willful negligence” that prevents the public from being safe from these events. Every encounter they have with an earthquake follows the same trend of questions: why are we still experiencing this amount of destruction after years of experience?, where is the government?. The slogan, which also happens to be the main theme of this paper, “Earthquakes do not kill, humans do,” can be heard from everyone on an almost daily basis.
This paper’s aims to contribute to the ongoing debates on government’s lack of initiatives in order to mitigate damages caused by the earthquakes. Paper will go over the details of the biggest earthquakes Turkiye has encountered at the beginning of the 21st century and will use the Mercalli System to categorize the danger limits of each earthquake. The Mercalli system categorizes earthquakes from level I to level XII.
1999 Golcuk Earthquake (Level XI) and its Implications
On August 17th, 1999, at 03.02 a.m., Turkiye experienced a major earthquake that has been used as a comparison point for any earthquake that has happened during the 21st century. The 1999 earthquake had a magnitude of 7.6 and lasted for 45 seconds (Kandilli, 1999). Although the earthquake happened in the northern part of the Marmara Region, it was felt from every corner of the country. This earthquake has caused 19.000 people to die and an estimated 6.5 billion dollars worth of damage. The government sent over its military personnel and healthcare professionals from all the cities to the Marmara Region so that they could aid the survivors. Many other countries, including South Korea, the United States, and members of the EU, were there, but the government had refused the help offered by Greece and Armenia.
The state of emergency caused many functions of daily life to come to a halt, and no one could go on with their lives. During an interview with Omer Sinan, who was a former C-130 pilot for the Turkish Air Force, he told his side of the story: “When the earthquake happened, we were given orders to go to the area and help. One of the crew members on the plane,who lost his family during the earthquake, was crying and asking the question, Where is the state? I told him that we were the state and that we were going to help the public even if the government did not. You, me, the crew, we are the state you are looking for.” (Sinan, 2024). The public felt alone even with the help from the government, and many people volunteered to be in the affected area to help them. They could feel the absence of the governmental actions that should have been taken. Some may argue that the military being there should be proof of the government taking action, but prior to the 2016 coup attempt, the Turkish military had the freedom to take initiative during events such as an earthquake. No order was necessary for them to be deployed. The military itself would issue orders. During the rescue efforts, which lasted for weeks, the sound of one person stuck under the rubble yelled out, “Can anybody here me?”
After the shock of the earthquake had subsided and the public began to adapt to the new environment, the government realized the size of the damage, which not only affected the lives of the public but also the economy of the country, and decided to repair the damages and create new policies in order to possibly get ahead of the next big earthquake affecting the country. Those new policies included mandatory insurance for earthquakes (BBC, 2023) and a new earthquake tax so that when another catastrophe occurs, they would not face the economic troubles they did during the events of the August 17th earthquake and would have some amount of money accumulated in the Treasury to remedy the possible effects of the next one.
The fear that the earthquake caused put many organizations, scientists, and politicians in action to advise the public on what would be the rational path to follow so that they could be prepared for new encounters. The opposition voiced many concerns regarding the lack of action from the government during the crisis and claimed that they should have been more active. Many geophysicists and seismologists decided to give further education to the public through the media so that they could reach as many people as they could. These actions were and will always be present after a destructive event, but as humans tend to forget about anything that happens, they will skip over to the next channel to watch something entertaining so that they do not have to think about negative things. This is only the beginning of the ignorance level slowly increasing. One great example of this can be seen if we look at what has happened to the Ahmet Mete Isikara. Ahmet Mete Isikara (who was also known as the Earthquake Grandpa) was a well known geophysicist and seismologist who was also the president of Kandilli Observatory, which is the main source of analysing earthquakes as they are happening. Isikara went on TV and gave many informational interviews on earthquakes and how people can be prepared for one. His efforts, however, may have helped many people during other earthquakes, but at the time, newspapers and the rest of the population crowned him the “sexiest man of Turkiye” (OdaTV, 2008). He did not say anything worth a critique of this event, but during one of the seminars he gave, he voiced his frustration by saying, “I have been chosen the sexiest man, but it is not worth a shit.” (IHA, 2010)
The lack of preparation by the public cannot be ignored. Although the magnitude of the earthquake was greater than other earthquakes, many buildings survived the disaster with minor damages since they were built with the reality of the earthquakes in mind. After the search and rescue efforts had concluded, seven people were arrested. The arrested group was made up of five cooperative managers, an architect, and an engineer. Alongside these 7 people, 2.100 cases were opened in the judiciary in hopes of serving justice to the people who were considered to be the people responsible for the deaths and destruction. 1.800 of the cases got pardoned using the Rahsan Pardon, which got its name from the wife of the president, Bulent Ecevit. The remaining 300 cases were sent to further action, but 190 got postponed, and eventually the time had lapsed for them. Eventually, only 110 of the 2.100 cases got their verdicts.
This earthquake also brought another aspect of preparation to the table. The matter involves emergency assembly points. During the earthquake, people who managed to get out of their houses had nowhere to go. The emergency assembly points only had less than 200 square meters. With so many people on the streets and the lack of open space for them to be gathered in, it caused a high level of chaos in the city. During this chaos, so many people with bad intentions had the perfect opportunity to pillage through the abandoned houses and damaged stores to gain profit from the catastrophe. After these events, another policy was decided that would make it mandatory to have more assembly points throughout the cities so that the people would have easy access to open areas if need be.
Many songs, stories, and movies were made to commemorate the event so that no one forgets and those who died will be remembered.
2011 Van Earthquake (Level VIII) and Its Implications
12 years after the 1999 Golcuk earthquake, Turkey was hit with another major earthquake from the most eastern part of the country. On October 23rd, 2011 at 1:41 p.m., the province of Van was shaken by an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.2, which lasted for 25 seconds. Occuring during the day and having a lower magnitude than the 1999 earthquake Van Eartquake did not claim as many lives as the 1999 earthquake claiming 604 people’s lives and leaving 4.152 injured in the progress. Right after the news reached nearby cities and to the officials, many people were already on their way to the area for search and rescue efforts. The government sent over 1,275 personnel and healthcare professionals, along with the Red Crescent’s aid for necessary needs for sanctuary, such as tents, portable kitchens, and field hospitals. Although the people in the area and the volunteers claimed that more help would be beneficial, the new president at the time, Abdulla Gul, had declined offers of help from other countries.
Since the death count was not as high as the 1999 earthquake, everybody adapted much more quickly and forgot it even happened within the week. However, the most debated matter on TV was the 1999 earthquake and when would the next catastrophic earthquake hit the Marmara region and whether the country was ready for it or not. Beforementioned Ahmet Mete Isikara, along with many other scientists such as Naci Gorur, pointed out many dangerous possibilities of another major earthquake wiping out the city of Istanbul, and analyzing the fault lines showed that the country could experience much more destructive earthquakes on the southeastern fault line, and it was only a matter of time. After two weeks of talking about the earthquake on television, everybody went back to their old routine and forgot about the incident.
2020 Elazig Earthquake (Level IX) and Its Implications
Nine years after the Van Earthquake, the same fault line caused another major earthquake to shake the area. On January 24th, 2020, at 8:55 p.m., an earthquake with a magnitude of 6.8 that lasted for 40 seconds caused terror in the eastern region of Turkiye. AKUT, an NGO with the sole purpose of search and rescue, rushed to the area and helped the victims of the earthquake. During the efforts, which lasted a week to fully complete, the attention of the public and the scientists focused on the 1999 earthquake, just as last time. After the efforts were concluded, everything went back to normal, and everyone besides those who were affected by it forgot it ever happened.
2020 Izmir Earthquake (Level VIII) and Its Implications
The same year as the Elazig earthquake, another earthquake shook Turkiye, but this time on the west coast of the country. The fault lines in the Aegean Sea cracked and caused a massive earthquake with a magnitude of 7 on October 30th at 2:51 p.m., which lasted for 16 seconds. The earthquake was felt in all of the cities along the west coast, including Istanbul and the Mediterranean region of Turkey. 119 people lost their lives, 1.053 people got injured, and 15.000 people lost their houses. 400 million dollars worth of property damage has been estimated. The earthquake has also caused a tsunami to hit Izmir, which reached a height of 20 feet. Many businesses and houses that survived the earthquake were affected by the tsunami that followed. During the reparation efforts, attention was once again drawn to the 1999 earthquake, the possibility of another hitting the Marmara region, and how destructive it can be.
The earthquake brought to light one important aspect of human nature: how polarization can cause further chaos. Izmir is known to be the castle of laicite or secularism in Turkey. Under the AKP's (Justice and Development) government, the country has shifted towards conservatism. After the military coup attempt in July 2016, the entire country has been polarized into two distinct groups. The left wing (seculars) and the right wing (extreme conservatists). Izmir, being a secular city ever since its freedom from the attacking forces during World War I, has upheld its positions. The east of the country, on the other hand, has always been conservative. When the earthquake happened, people from the east pointed their fingers and blamed the people of Izmir for being the reason the earthquake happened and that they deserved it. According to them, if they had not been drinking alcohol, women wearing revealing clothes would not be punished. This polarization caused the efforts to slow down since the perspective changed from helping the victims of the earthquake to trying to stop people from getting into fights with each other. After 2 weeks of search and rescue efforts, the city started going back to its old routine, and everything went back to normal, but the conflict between the eastern and western sides did not disappear and continued to draw attention on social media, especially on Twitter (now called X).
The hostility on the eastern side of the country arose from the ignorance they had towards the reality of the earthquake. Even after living through many earthquakes themselves, the collective amnesia towards the events caused them to think such a crisis as the one that hit Izmir would not affect them in the future. The ignorance they let grow had caused them to fall into a false sense of security.
2023 Kahramanmaras Earthquake (Level XII)
The false sense of security they got themselves into only lasted for three years. On February 6th, at 4:17 a.m., an earthquake hit the southeastern part of Turkiye and lasted for 100 seconds. Nobody has ever felt an earthquake this big before since it had a magnitude of 7.8. The earthquake was felt in 10 cities in central Anatolia and the southeastern Anatolia region of Turkiye. The people in those 10 cities were shocked at first and did their best to leave the crumbling buildings they were in. The chaotic environment only grew as hours went by. The entire communication network had crashed due to people from all over the country trying to contact the people they knew who were in the affected area. In the dead of night, when the majority of the people were sleeping in their beds, they lost their lives. The moment the officials heard of the incident, the entire country went into crisis mode and decided to do whatever was possible to help the people there. At least on principle. As the clocks began to tick near 7 a.m., those who survived the shock started to go to their jobs and try to understand what had happened. The panic, however, did not stop there.
On the same day of the incident, another earthquake hit Turkiye once again at 1:24 p.m. with a magnitude of 7.5, which lasted for 45 seconds. This earthquake had finished the job the first one could not. The buildings, which were already damaged due to the first earthquake, crumbled to rubble. When the effects of the first earthquake seemingly disappeared from the minds of the public, the second earthquake claimed the lives of those who felt everything was over. Both earthquakes claimed more than 62.013 lives in total, leaving 138.476 people injured and causing an estimated total of 153.9 billion dollars worth of property damage. Even the survivors were not safe because, after all the shocks, during the search and rescue attempts, it was revealed that 300 people were lost. Their whereabouts are still unknown.
This earthquake has a unique origin. Unlike other earthquakes mentioned in this paper, this one did not occur due to a fault line cracking. Of course, the reason it happened was due to a fault line cracking along its length; however, what caused that fault line to crack was a combination of many plates starting to separate. The Arabian plate, African plate, and Anatolian plate that Turkiye lies on began to separate (Sengor, 2023) The effects of the combination of events are still felt in Turkiye after a year. The entire country shifted four meters to the west.
Right after the first earthquake hit the country, the governmental office of disaster management, AFAD, issued a level 4 distress call and response, which meant that the area needed help from other countries (AFAD, 2013), which in the past only reached level 3, which meant that national efforts were sufficient. People in the 10 affected cities—Kahramanmaras, Diyarbakir, Gaziantep, Hatay, Kayseri, Malatya, Adana, Sanliurfa, Kilis, and Adiyaman—were crying for help from the authorities and anyone who could help. The help did not arrive for a while, at least not from government officials. People from all over the country hopped into their vehicles, which were packed to the brim with clothes, food, water, and blankets, so that they could reach the affected area and do their best to help lift the burden from their shoulders.
The people that rushed to the area were just ordinary citizens who knew the despair the victims would feel and just could not stand by till the beuracracy of the government took action. The public had become an individual with a great force behind them. People with great influential assets, such as YouTubers, influencers, celebrities, and NGO managers, made sure that the victims’ voices were heard. One of the NGOs called AHBAP (Friend), founded by Haluk Levent, who is an Anatolian rock singer, made sure that every asset they had would be used to help the people. He got in contact with many international organizations from neighboring countries and managed to find the necessary supplies needed for the first impact, such as tents, portable kitchens, toilets, and baths. In mere hours, the borders of the cities were packed with supplies that were meant to be delivered to the area, but the chaotic environment caused a traffic jam, which caused the supplies to remain outside the city for a long duration of time. The constant snow caused many aids to be destroyed due to the water damage. Those who could not get into the city tried their best to help through unconventional methods. Oguzhan Ugur, who is a well-known YouTuber in Turkey, assembled a team that was formed of other YouTubers, streamers from Twitch, celebrities, and volunteers to act as a center of communication. While the citizens were trying to do their best to help the area, the government stayed silent. Many soldiers and high-ranking officers in the military claimed that they were ready to be deployed to the area, but the order had not come to them to act on. Most of them eventually decided to head over there without the need for an order. Politicians from the opposition were already taking the necessary actions to be of use. Muharrem Ince, who is the president of the Memleket Partisi (Hometown Party), was one of the first people to be in the area, using whatever he had with him to make sure everyone was aware of what was happening.
The search and rescue efforts lasted for months. 75% of the affected cities were wiped clean due to the earthquakes, and once the rubble was lifted, the cities became ghost towns, with people who are still living there acting as reminders of what happened. So many people had to be buried using construction vehicles to dig massive holes acting as graves. Relatives of the deceased looked at the government, yelling, asking for a proper burial and why they were not there when they needed them. The government stayed silent, other than stating that they shared the sadness the public was facing and would do everything they were capable of. Their efforts, however, were not towards helping the citizens.
Kizilay and AFAD collaborated to handle the situation. They were at the location, and their efforts were being livestreamed throughout the country through many media options, including TV, social media, and video calls. On paper, everything looked as if they were helping. AFAD would take the survivors and relocate them to a place where it was determined to be safe. However, the location they chose was right next to the Mediterranean Sea on the coast of Hatay. Which alarmed everyone, including scientists. People knew that after a massive earthquake such as the one they had just experienced, a tsunami was not a probability but an imminent danger that could occur to anyone. AFAD should have been more thorough, and they should have predicted what could happen. Fortunately, a tsunami did not occur on the coast. Meanwhile, Kizilay had the responsibility of delivering tents to the victims of the earthquake. People were waiting for the tents while the news of tents being sold by Kizilay hit the streets. After close examination of what happened to the tents, it had been revealed that Kizilay, the organization that was responsible for helping the victims for free, had sold the tent stock they had to AHBAP, the NGO that has been mentioned, for 43 million Turkish Liras (14 million dollars) (Cumhuriyet. 2023). When the public heard of this news, it caused a massive problem for the government. They did not want this to be heard by others, so they did what any oppressive government would do: block the use of the internet and social media, and even make sure that TV channels that told the story of the event would have to show something else. Kizilay was not the only organization that benefited from the crisis. AFAD had been seen to cover the containers bought by AHBAP with their own logo to make it seem as if AFAD was the organization responsible for delivering those aids. After a year, some places in the affected cities are still waiting for the promised aid to help them recover, and some are still trying to find their lost relatives.
While everything was settling down and people were trying to go back to their lives, one more important matter came to light. During the earthquake, most of the hospitals in the area were destroyed. In order to help those who needed medical attention and those who had to continue with already established treatments, they had to be sent over to surrounding cities. During an interview with Pervin Horasan, who is an oncology nurse in Kayseri, she mentioned that in order to make sure everyone was taken care of, all leave of absences had been cancelled, and they could not even spend their own time with their families. Considering Kayseri was also affected by the earthquake, this was a hard thing to do for her. She stated, “Although I was aware of what must be done, my mind kept going to my home. My nephew was in town to spend time with me; he suffers from anxiety, and in order to make sure he was okay, I would keep calling every chance I had just to make sure he was alright.” (Horasan, 2024). Alongside the patients who were sent over from Kahramanmaras, Hatay, and other cities that got destroyed, hospitals had to deal with new cases rushing to the hospitals. Since the earthquake happened during the winter and the temperatures were extremely cold, people had to find ways to spend the night. Those who could not get into the assembly points since it was overcrowded chose to spend the night in their cars. Dicle Aslan, who is a doctor in Kayseri, stated that “the emergency rooms were filled to the brim with cases of carbon monoxide poisoning. People had to stay in their cars and turn the heating on.” (Aslan, 2024). This period lasted for months.
This earthquake also highlighted one important aspect of Turkiye’s social environment. While explaining the 2020 Izmir earthquake, we saw that people from the eastern part of Turkey blamed the victims. Their actions caused God to send down his wrath upon them, and they deserved it. When the same situation hit the eastern part, no one started claiming that people were acting in a way that deserved what had happened. The same people who would blame the people of Izmir were crying for help and, ironically, were dependent on the aid that came from other cities, including Izmir.
Politics’ Involvement in the Destruction
Everyone is aware of the destructive nature of earthquakes, but with the necessary cautions taken, the destruction can be mitigated. There are many examples of precautions saving lives, such as in Japan and the extensive efforts they place on safety. Turkiye, on the other hand, has always debated what should be done and left it at the beginning stages. The earthquake insurance was made mandatory after the 1999 earthquake, and while the responsible citizens of the country are making sure that they are insured, the officials are not making sure that everyone completes the checklist. The earthquake tax would have been used as a safety net so that no one would be left to suffer extensive economic losses due to an earthquake, but as seen with the 2023 earthquakes, rather than using the money that should have been accumulating, it was nowhere to be seen, and people had to use their own money in order to get out of the pit of destruction they were in.
It is not uncommon for governments to lack the financial power to fight events such as these, or it can also be argued that disasters can cost more than they had, but that is not enough to justify the actions of the government during the first two decades of the 21st century. Politicians will let everything happen as long as they can guarantee the support of the public. So most often, we can observe the candidates promising people that the burdens on their shoulders will be lifted when they come to power. One such example is construction amnesties. Most of the buildings in Turkiye are either family-constructed buildings that are ready to crumble with a single blow using a sledgehammer or big, tall residences that were constructed using as little material as possible to gain profit. Big construction companies and the people who built their homes without getting permission saw the possibility of having their cakes and eating them. They favored the amnesties that were promised. So when new governments came to power, one of the first things they did was issue an amnesty, as promised. The 1999 earthquake showed the danger of insufficient infrastructure, but as if it never happened in 2001, an amnesty was issued, and everyone was happy that it was their chance to live without the fear of getting caught by the officials and getting punished because of the lack of permits. Between the years 2001 and 2018, eight amnesties were issued, and while the opposition and scientists were objecting to these amnesties, the government advertised them as great acts that benefit everyone. Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the president of Turkey, has stated that “thanks to the amnesties, we have solved many housing problems and our people can live freely.” (Harrington, 2023). With all the amnesties issued and the AKP government letting people who vote for them do anything they wish to do, human life has always been seen as mere bullet points on a list on which money and personal benefits take the lead.
Is the government unaware of the possibilities? Have they never seen an earthquake? Both of the questions have the same answer. No, they are aware of the possibilities and have gone through many earthquakes, as mentioned before, but they choose to ignore them. The source of this problem arises from human nature. Once the slow life goes back to the way it was, with some changes, people tend to forget that it happened in the first place. This adaptation then causes more damage than good outcomes. In politics, especially in Turkiye, once this “adaptation” occurs, people stop pressuring the government. Only a few people from the public and some members of the opposition continue to hold the pressure and demand to see the government take responsibility. The Turkish government, however, has a secret weapon up its sleeve. That being religion, Although Turkey is a country with laicite as one of its main pillars, politicians in the 1950s figured out that if they could exploit the religious side of the public, they would be successful in whatever they set their minds to. As mentioned before, every big event, such as an earthquake, gets credited to God, and there was nothing the government could do.
This manipulation causes the presence of ignorance to grow. Combining it with the idea of “that will never happen to me” causes greater risk factors to emerge. Geologist Celal Sengor has claimed: “As long as we do not fight this ignorance and find a way to educate people, we will keep suffering from disasters such as this one. To put it promptly, their ignorance is affecting our lives.” (Sengor, 2023)
Conclusion
Over the past twenty years, Turkey has experienced a series of devastating earthquakes. These natural disasters caused vast numbers of casualties and the destruction of wealth, but they also revealed critical problems about preparedness and response to disasters in this country. Regardless of the fact that Turkey lies in a highly earthquake-prone region, it has been repeatedly caught off guard with devastating outcomes.
The 1999 earthquake in Golcuk, which has a magnitude of 7.6, seems to remind us how fragile the country is. This earthquake caused a loss of 19,000 lives, and the damage was severe. The government decided that earthquake insurance was mandatory and also set up an earthquake tax. However, the response took too long and was not efficient enough. After examining all these events and actions together, a lot of people doubt whether the public can really be safe in Turkey. Further earthquakes, such as the 2011 Van quake and the 2020 Elazig and Izmir quakes, intensified the call for proactive action in preparation. Initial rescue work was praiseworthy, but the urgency quickly gave way to the retreat of long-term planning and preparedness. The alarmingly large 2023 disaster in Kahramanmaras never before had an earthquake of this size strike the area. With inadequate buildings and insufficient response planning, the results were predictable. As has clearly been shown by the lack of useful results, the government’s seemingly indifferent way of handling the disaster struck a note of abdication of responsibility.
Underlying troubles in Turkish society have been revealed by these calamities. Political manipulation, poor urban layout, and the fractures within society have all been laid bare. The use of religious identity, which has been combined with the effects of ignorance, constitutes an all-too-effective brake on the implementation of an effective disaster management plan. Going forward, there is an imperative to institute all-round reforms. This requires investment in resilient infrastructure, improvement of early warning systems, and raising public awareness and education. Additionally, political leaders must put public safety ahead of short-term gains, and the public must participate actively in disaster preparedness activities. Although earthquakes are an inescapable reality, their effects can be reduced through united action and a determination to overcome them. If Turkey is to rise above this calamity, it will take a combined effort from everyone involved. The only way to ensure a safer, more stable tomorrow is to work together, making sure no one falls into the false sense of security caused by ignorance.
Works Cited
"17 Ağustos Depremi: 1999 ve sonrasında neler yaşandı, kaç kişi hayatını kaybetti?" BBC Turkish, August 16, 2019, https://www.bbc.com/turkce/haberler-turkiye-49322860.
"AFAD - Disaster and Emergency Management Authority," Disaster and Emergency Management Authority, https://www.afad.gov.tr/.
"Ahmet Mete Işıkara Türkiye'nin En Seksi Erkeği Seçilmesini Hangi Genel Yayın Yönetmenine Borçlu?" Oda TV, https://www.odatv.com/medya/ahmet-mete-isikara-turkiyenin-en-seksi-erkegi-secilmesini-hangi-genel-yayin-yonetmenine-borclu-2550.
Binali Tercan, "1948’den Bugüne İmar Afları," Mimarlık Dergisi 417 (2018) http://www.mimarlikdergisi.com/index.cfm?sayfa=mimarlik&DergiSayi=417&RecID=4520.
"Earthquake Catalog Search," Kandilli Observatory and Earthquake Research Institute, http://www.koeri.boun.edu.tr/scripts/lst5.asp.
"Gölcük Depreminde Arama Kurtarma Kaç Gün Sürdü? 1999 Gölcük Depreminde Kaç Saat Sonra Enkazdan Canlı Çıkıldı?" Gazete Vatan, https://www.gazetevatan.com/galeri/golcuk-depreminde-arama-kurtarma-kac-gun-surdu-1999-golcuk-depreminde-kac-saat-sonra-enkazdan-canli-cikildi-2082130/2.
"Işıkara Şok Etti! Seksi Erkek Seçildim Ama Bi B*kı Yaramıyor," Medya Faresi, 2010, https://www.medyafaresi.com/haber/isikara-sok-etti-seksi-erkek-secildim-ama-bi-bka-yaramiyor/40476.
İmar Affı Uygulamaları ve Deprem," Mecliste.org, https://www.mecliste.org/icerik/115/imar-Affi-Uygulamalari-ve-Deprem.
Kate Harrington, "Turkey’s Construction Amnesty Is a Death Sentence," Jacobin, March 23, 2023, https://jacobin.com/2023/03/turkey-erdogan-construction-amnesty-building-collapse-earthquake-deaths.
"Sesimi Duyan Var Mı?" NTV, https://www.ntv.com.tr/video/turkiye/sesimi-duyan-var-mi,ug9bxNwGBEOdLyUaHdK8Kw.
Victims of 2011 Van quakes continue to live in container cities," Duvar English, 2011, https://www.duvarenglish.com/victims-of-2011-van-quakes-continue-to-live-in-container-cities-news-61969.
Interviews with Omer Sinan, Pervin Horasan, Dicle Aslan
Prof. Dr. Celal Sengor, a Geologist from Istanbul Technical University