‘Post-quake governors’ assigned to Istanbul

ISTANBUL

As part of efforts to prepare Istanbul for a possible large-scale earthquake, governors have been appointed to all 39 districts to coordinate post-disaster search and rescue efforts and humanitarian aid needs.

The issue of Istanbul's earthquake resilience has been put back on the agenda following the Feb. 6 quakes in the country’s south, which claimed the lives of more than 50,000 people and severely devastated 11 cities.

Geoscientists have been warning Istanbul against a major earthquake for over 20 years.

In addition to the accelerated efforts of the Environment, Urbanization, and Climate Change Ministry and the Istanbul Municipality, the governor’s office has also stepped up its studies to prepare the city for quakes.

According to daily Milliyet, “post-disaster governors” have been appointed to all 39 districts, considering that local administrators in districts and the authorities responsible for coordination would also become "earthquake victims" in the event of a potential earthquake.

Accordingly, in the event of a major earthquake in Istanbul, each of these non-resident 39 governors will coordinate search and rescue operations, humanitarian aid needs, and temporary shelter services for their districts.

As part of these efforts, the number of assembly areas in Istanbul has been increased from 2,864 to 5,578.

The daily also reported that the seismic activity of the region is monitored with a total of 250 earthquake observation stations.

The establishment of local support teams, which will contribute to recovery efforts after a disaster, is ongoing in all 39 districts of Istanbul. As part of this process, training has been provided to a total of 702 personnel from the municipal administrations of Silivri, Pendik and Zeytinburnu districts.