Container city to be established in quake-hit region: Vice president

KAHRAMANMARAŞ

A container city will be established in the region affected by the earthquake, Vice President Fuat Oktay said on Feb. 8.

A magnitude 7.7 quake struck 7 kilometers (4.3 miles) below the surface in Kahramanmaraş’s Pazarcık district on Feb. 6 at 4:17 a.m., according to the Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD).

“We started to build a container city” in the quake-hit regions, Oktay said, adding that nearly 1 million blankets are on or about to reach the field, and the aim is to increase the number to 2 million “very quickly.”

Housing and nutrition needs of 400,000 people are being met in dormitories and youth centers, he added.

The spring semester in higher education institutions in Antalya, Bingöl, Elazığ, Erzincan, Karaman, Kayseri, Konya, Mardin, Mersin, Niğde, Sivas and Tunceli has also been postponed until further notice, the Council of Higher Education said in a statement.

The dormitory and campus facilities that are available will be used if needed, the council added.

The vice president also informed that the maintenance of three of six faulty transformers in the region has been completed. “Around 1,400 generators have reached the site. If we don’t encounter a new surprise, we will complete the work and deliver natural gas to the disaster area in a controlled manner.”

Noting that due to “light transportation problems” a total of 151 fuel tankers were stranded on the road in the southeastern province of Gaziantep’s Nurdağı district, Oktay said the problem on the road has been resolved and that an additional 650 mobile tankers have reached the region.

“There is almost no closed road leading to the disaster area,” he said.