MHP urges preparations for potential Istanbul earthquake

ANKARA

Turkey should increase its earthquake readiness level, particularly for Istanbul, as experts warn of a potential major tremor, the leader of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) has said, proposing the government to set up a specific Science Board made up of earthquake experts and academics to carry out necessary works.

“Preparations should be made, precautions should be considered immediately for a potential Istanbul earthquake on the basis of all sorts of scenarios,” MHP Chair Devlet Bahçeli told his parliamentary group in a weekly address on Oct. 3.

A deadly tremor in İzmir last week that claimed the lives of more than 100 people has once again rung the alarm bells for a major earthquake that could take place in Turkey’s largest metropolis, Istanbul. An earthquake hit the Marmara region in 1999 when around 17,000 people lost their lives.

Bahçeli said that dozens of Turkish citizens were killed as a result of an earthquake in İzmir and has criticized the contractors of the collapsed buildings and those who provided necessary licenses to them.

Recalling that Turkey sits on active fault lines and that earthquakes are unfortunately part of the fate of these lands, Bahçeli said, “It’s imperative for us to live with the earthquake fact and to develop planning for the future in accordance with this.”

Bahçeli has stressed the need for urgent accomplishment of earthquake planning for each province and of urban transformation projects by spotting weak buildings. He suggested the formation of an Earthquake Science Board to deal with all these preparations.