Symposium on Academic Evaluation After the Kahramanmaraş Earthquake was held
Drawing attention to the need for urban transformation, Üsküdar University Rector Prof. Nazife Güngör expressed that "Developed societies foresee problems and solve them before they occur. Societies that have not completed the development process are chasing after problems."
Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences Prof. Arif Aktuğ Ertekin said that "There is a rule in health. If there is a problem, you treat it, you try to prevent it from happening again, and you eliminate the causes that led to it." Head of the Department of Occupational Health and Safety Asst. Prof. Rüştü Uçan said that the measures to be taken after the 1999 earthquake were discussed, but shopping malls and large sites were built in the identified gathering areas, and high-rise buildings continued to be built on the beaches.
Advisor to the Rector, who was also the Mayor of Gölcük during the 1999 earthquake, Prof. İsmail Barış said that "According to some, an earthquake of 7.6 magnitude or 7.7 magnitude is 'not even a disaster'. According to some, an earthquake with a magnitude of 5 or 6 is one of the biggest disasters. It can even be called the disaster of the universe."
On the anniversary of the February 6 earthquakes, the measures were discussed!
On the 1st anniversary of the Maraş earthquake, the "Academic Evaluation Symposium after the Kahramanmaraş Earthquake" was held by Üsküdar University at the Çarşı Campus Emirnebi 1 Conference Hall.
The opening speeches of the symposium were given by Üsküdar University Rector Prof. Nazife Güngör, Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences Prof. Arif Aktuğ Ertekin, Head of the Department of Occupational Health and Safety Asst. Prof. Rüştü Uçan.
Dean of the Faculty of Medicine Prof. Haydar Sur gave a speech titled "Safety Culture in Earthquakes" and Advisor to the Rector Prof. İsmail Barış gave a speech titled "Earthquake and Civil Society".
Prof. Nazife Güngör: "Developed societies foresee problems and solve them before they occur"
Üsküdar University Rector Prof. Nazife Güngör stated that the development process of societies is not only economic, and that societies that have completed the development process are visionary societies that have prepared solutions before the problem arises.
Prof. Nazife Güngör stated that "Developed societies foresee problems and solve them before they occur. Societies that have not completed the development process are chasing after problems," and added that what will happen during the possible İstanbul earthquake is being discussed, but a consensus has not yet been reached on what needs to be done and measures have not been taken.
It should be discussed what the solutions to the problems will be in an academic and scientific sense
Pointing out that the necessary urban transformation has still not been achieved, Prof. Nazife Güngör stated that the pain of the earthquakes centered in Kahramanmaraş has still not been healed and that there are losses, and continued her remarks as follows: "Let's leave the government policies aside, they are the work of top politics, but while we are talking about these issues here, we need to talk about what our situation is, what the problem is, and what kind of contributions we will make to the solutions to these problems in an academic and scientific sense."
Prof. Ertekin: "There is a rule in health: if there is a problem, you treat it..."
Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences Prof. Arif Aktuğ Ertekin reminded that it has been 1 year since the February 6 earthquakes, and more than 50 thousand deaths and more than a hundred thousand injuries and said that "There is a rule in health: if there is a problem, you treat it. You try to prevent it from happening again, you eliminate the causes that led to it." Stating that malaria existed in the past, the swamps were drained by taking the necessary action and the disease is no longer seen, Prof. Arif Aktuğ Ertekin said that "Our country is a country with faults, an earthquake country, since we cannot eliminate faults, then we have to learn to live with them. Have we learned? It is debatable. It has been a year. Have we done much? It will be discussed again.” Expressing that the brain wants to forget the pain, Prof. Arif Aktuğ Ertekin said that "I hope that this meeting will lead to the beginning of a process in which what needs to be done in a more rational and more scientific way will be fulfilled from now on."
Rüştü Uçan: "We did not know what to do in the 1999 earthquake."
Head of the Department of Occupational Health and Safety Asst. Prof. Rüştü Uçan explained that he was in Kocaeli's seaside resort Bayramoğlu when the 1999 earthquake occurred and that he could not enter the houses for weeks after the earthquake. Asst. Prof. Uçan said that "We had never felt the earthquake in our lives until then. We did not know what to do." Explaining that the measures to be taken after that earthquake were discussed, but shopping malls and large sites were built in the identified gathering areas, and high-rise buildings continued to be built on the beaches. Prof. Rüştü Uçan said that "Just a week after the 2023 earthquake, we went to Antakya as a team for dust measurement. I had the opportunity to examine the earthquake more closely."
Prof. Haydar Sur: "We have shelters, but they are full of cheap detergents"
In his speech titled "Safety Culture in Earthquakes", Üsküdar University Faculty of Medicine Dean Prof. Haydar Sur discussed the safety culture and pointed out the importance of non-governmental organization. Prof. Haydar sur said that “I also blame the citizens who only blame the state officials for the earthquake,"and continued his remarks as follows: "What did you do? Have you formed an association to save your neighborhood? Every apartment building should be able to organize for earthquakes. We have bunkers, but they are full of cheap detergents..." Stating that the first 72 hours are said to be very important in an earthquake, Prof. Haydar Sur said that "The first 6 hours in health are declared as the 'Golden hour'. People who you cannot save from under the dent within 6 hours will either live with a sick kidney or a crippled arm..." Noting that every neighborhood and every apartment building should be organized, Prof. Haydar Sur stated that "As a person, you are not ready, why do you blame the state? As educators, we have missed our duty to educate the community."
Prof. Sur: "It is important to learn from mistakes."
Emphasizing the importance of creating a security culture, Prof. Haydar Sur explained that it is not known whether the society wants safe buildings or not, and that the ignorance of the citizens should be eliminated with total development. Emphasizing the importance of learning from mistakes, Prof. Haydar Sur also said that good people should make city planning for safer societies. Stating that the basis of security culture is mental processes, beliefs, knowledge and values, Prof. Haydar Sur also stated that non-social movements will have weak effects.
Prof. İsmail Barış: "According to some, an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.7 is 'not even a disaster'."
In his speech titled "Earthquake and Civil Society", Advisor to the Rector Prof. İsmail Barış stated that the Gölcük earthquake was called the earthquake of the century and said that "It is said that there was an earthquake of a new century on February 6, these are not true. We do not know what tomorrow will bring. Each period has its own earthquakes. According to some, a 7.6 magnitude or 7.7 magnitude earthquake is 'not even a disaster'. According to some, an earthquake with a magnitude of 5 or 6 is one of the biggest disasters. It can even be called the disaster of the universe. We need to escalate the events to find solutions. Otherwise, we should not make it big for the sake of hiding behind excuses."
Earthquake preparedness training should be given to everyone who goes to the military
Explaining that one of the most important concepts related to earthquakes is the management of disasters, Prof. İsmail Barış stated that it is necessary to be prepared for disasters first. Stating that the education of the public is important in the preparation phase, Prof. Barış said that "You will train in the military. You will train on search, rescue, earthquake preparedness. Everyone should be educated for themselves, for their own earthquakes." Emphasizing that training is essential not only for search and rescue but also for all kinds of earthquake-related preparations, Prof. Barış noted that the central administration and local governments are the main elements to reduce the damages in the event of an earthquake.
Prof. Barış said: "In the preparation phase, the state of the Republic of Türkiye, regardless of the governments, has failed."
Prof. Barış continued his remarks as follows as follows:
"The state has done its duty and will do it and is doing it... I say this for the intervention phase. In the preparation phase, the state of the Republic of Türkiye, regardless of the governments, has failed. When? Is it now? No, not before... And before that. In what way? In terms of the measures that need to be taken."
Reminding that the building bylaws was changed before the 1999 earthquake, Prof. Barış said that "The citizen who will build the building is guilt ridden, and the municipality is also guilt ridden. The citizen wants more floors, and the contractor does not even act according to the current regulations to earn more money. The state causes a disaster because it does not take the necessary measures on time. After all, there is a social murder..." Prof. İsmail Barış noted that everyone contributed to that social murder.
Prof. İsmail Barış: "The 1999 earthquake was an earthquake-related milestone for Türkiye."
Prof. İsmail Barış noted that the 1999 earthquake was an earthquake-related milestone for Türkiye and noted that NGOs, which were previously inactive, became active.
Stating that new NGOs have also emerged for earthquakes and other disasters, Prof. İsmail Barış said that search and rescue and other humanitarian aid services became even more functional in the February 6 earthquake, but there was a lack of coordination.
Reminding that a level 4 alert was given in the February 6 earthquake, Prof. İsmail Barış explained that while AFAD had 600 thousand volunteers to whom it provided basic disaster training on February 5, 110 thousand new volunteers registered on February 6 and around 8 thousand volunteers moved to the provinces on February 7.
Prof. İsmail Barış said: "Earthquake is a problem for all of us as people in this country who will live in a state that will remain intact until the end of time."
Stating that the 'spontaneous volunteers' who went to the region on February 6 also took part in many areas, Prof. İsmail Barış said that the whole of Türkiye is an earthquake zone, and that vehicle and equipment storage areas should be established at all airports. An earthquake is not the work of a mayor elected for 5 years, and an earthquake is not the work of a president and parliament elected for 5 years. Earthquake is always a problem for all of us as people who will live in a state that will remain intact until the end of time in this country." Prof. İsmail Barış noted that the measures taken were correct and urban transformation should also be ensured.
A group photo taken
After the speeches at the symposium, a group photo was taken with the participants.
In the symposium, disasters were discussed in the context of occupational health and safety
Later in the symposium, those who made a presentation are as follows: the President of the Occupational Diseases-Occupational Accidents Research and Prevention Foundation, Asst. Prof. Rüştü Uçan with the presentation titled "Evaluation of High-Rise Buildings in the Earthquake Zone", Assoc. Prof. Müge Ensari Özay with the presentation titled "Occupational Health and Safety in Post-Earthquake Interventions", Asst. Prof. Mert Akcanbaş with the presentation titled "Psychological Losses and Damages in Earthquakes", Dr. Kaan Özkan Karadağ with the presentation titled "Occupational Health and Safety in Disaster Response Studies", RA Tuğçe Oral with the presentation titled "Breathable and Total Dust Concentration Exposure in February 6 Earthquake Search and Rescue and Debris Removal Operations: Hatay province", Instructor Akbey Elçi with the presentation titled "Integration of Earthquake Early Warning Systems into Emergency Plans" and Batuhan Canbolat with the presentation titled "Earthquake Preparedness and What to Do in the First Hours".
Üsküdar News Agency (ÜNA)