Organized by AFAD and TÜBİTAK, a meeting chaired by Vedat Bilgin, Minister of Labor and Social Security and Mustafa Varank, Minister of Industry and Technology, and attended by 20 academics, was held to form the basis for the policies to be implemented after the earthquake.
According to the statement made by the Ministry, a meeting was held at the AFAD Crisis Coordination Center in Ankara to form the basis for the policies to be implemented after the earthquake. Organized by AFAD and TUBITAK, the meeting was attended by Vedat Bilgin, Minister of Labor and Social Security, and Mustafa Varank, Minister of Industry and Technology, as well as AFAD President Yunus Sezer, TUBITAK President Prof. Dr. Hasan Mandal, General Manager of AFAD Earthquake and Risk Reduction Prof. Dr. Orhan Tatar and Kandilli Observatory and Earthquake Research Institute Director Prof. Dr. He also participated with Haluk Özener. At the meeting, 20 academicians made evaluations about their fields and presented their solution suggestions.
Issues such as managing the support of expert academics in site selection processes in the earthquake zone, emergency action plans for provinces at high earthquake risk, collecting all information in a database, and determining policy regarding the existing building stock were discussed by the academicians.
At the meeting, suggestions were made regarding the improvement of building inspection services, the employment of expert technical personnel in local administrations was discussed, and the cooperation between TÜBİTAK and AFAD in terms of R&D was discussed.
“Seismic design”
Making a speech at the meeting, Minister of Labor and Social Security Bilgin pointed out the importance of site selection in the planning of new cities and said that they expect contributions from academics in this regard. Stating that issues such as quality control and seismic design are also important, he emphasized that the waste and asbestos problem were addressed in the first step.
“Innovative solutions”
Minister Varank also said that innovative solutions are needed in every area affected by the earthquake and underlined the need to make innovative initiatives, especially in the areas of zoning and development.
TUBITAK President Prof. Dr. Reminding that they started the Natural Disasters Focused Field Study Emergency Support Program after the earthquake, Hasan Mandal said, “Currently, 59 projects are carried out in the field, involving 510 researchers from 119 different institutions.” said. Stating that reports will be presented to them after the completion of the projects, Prof. Mandal said, “All data will be evaluated in a joint data center where we work with AFAD.” used his statements.
AFAD Earthquake and Risk Reduction General Manager Prof. Dr. Orhan Tatar noted that the scientific contribution of academics is important in the site selection process in the earthquake zone and explained that there will be a coordinator in the 11 sub-working groups formed and that these coordinators will carry out joint work with relevant institutions and organizations. Emphasizing that they expect contributions from sub-working groups on earthquake and earthquake management, Prof. Tatar said, “We think that we will take healthier steps by transferring the decisions taken here to the practitioners.” said.
As a result of the discussions held at the meeting, 11 sub-working groups were formed. These research groups are:
- Legislation Development,
- Education, R&D Information Support and Communication,
- Mapping and GIS,
- Active Faults and Surface Fault Mapping,
- Geotechnical and Mass Movements,
- Ground Movements, Seismic Hazard and Scenario Earthquakes,
- Superstructure,
- Infrastructure and Critical Structures,
- Logistics Network Management,
- Property and Land Management,
- Planning, Environment and Appropriate Site Selection.
The scientists attending the meeting also met with Murat Kurum, the Minister of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change, after examining the disaster areas.
The scientists who attended the meetings and took part in the working groups are as follows:
- prof. Dr. Hasan Mandal (Head of TÜBİTAK)
- prof. Dr. Orhan Tatar (AFAD Earthquake and Risk Reduction General Manager)
- prof. Dr. Haluk Özener (Director of Kandilli Observatory and Earthquake Research Institute)
- prof. Dr. Kürşat Esat Alyamaç, (AFAD Disaster Research Center Director)
- Dr. Omer Emre (Fugro Turkey)
- prof. Dr. Ayşegül Askan (METU Civil Engineering)
- prof. Dr. Bahadır Aktuğ (Ankara University Geophysical Engineering)
- Dr. Recep Cakir (Washington Geological Survey)
- Assoc. Dr. Mustafa Tolga Yılmaz (METU Engineering Sciences)
- prof. Dr. Kemal Önder Çetin (METU Civil Engineering)
- prof. Dr. Tahsin Yomralıoğlu (ITU Geomatics Engineering)
- prof. Dr. Özgür Özçelik Dokuz Eylül University (Civil Engineering)
- prof. Dr. Gürkan Özden Dokuz Eylül University (Civil Engineering)
- prof. Dr. Şerif Barış (Kocaeli University Geophysical Engineering)
- prof. Dr. Sibel Salman (Koç University Industrial Engineering)
- Assoc. Dr. M. Kerem Koçkar (Hacettepe University Civil Engineering)
- prof. Dr. Aykut Akgün (Black Sea Technical University Geological Engineering)
- prof. Dr. Altuğ Erberik (METU Civil Engineering)
- prof. Dr. Seyhan Firat (Gazi University Civil Engineering)
- Assoc. Dr. Duygu Celik (TUBITAK)