Critical warning from Earth Scientist Naci Görür

In the 7.4 magnitude earthquake that occurred on August 17, 1999, in the Gölcük district of Kocaeli, 17,480 people lost their lives and 43,953 were injured. In the Marmara region, where approximately 200,000 people were left homeless and the earthquake risk persists, Grekol Dream City has developed a new project focused on horizontal architecture. Expert opinions on earthquakes were sought during the construction phase of the residences. Earth Scientist Prof. Naci Görür issued critical warnings at the launch meeting of the completed residences.

"WE SOUGHT THE OPINIONS OF EARTHQUAKE EXPERTS"

Stating that they developed their projects with the approval of earthquake professors, Grekol Dream City Chairman of the Board İzzet Yıldırım said, "We are in an earthquake zone, we are on top of fault lines, and our earthquake experts are constantly warning us by saying, 'Horizontal architecture, earthquake-resistant structures.' In this project, we developed this project with raft foundation systems and projects approved by university professors and earthquake professors, which our Gebze needs, and offered it to the service of our fellow citizens in Gebze. Our goal is, as our earthquake experts always say, earthquakes do not kill, buildings do. If we build earthquake-resistant structures and ensure rapid transformation, we will lose fewer of our people. If we have contributed to this even a little, how happy for us. Especially since Gebze is an industrial city, when many academics, educators, or many people come to Gebze for various employment fields, we needed such luxury, ultra-luxury, and earthquake-resistant housing projects in Gebze. Our Gebze has developed a lot in terms of urban planning in the last few years, its urban development is at its peak, and we think this will be a project that will add value to our Gebze. Of course, while we were dreaming, designing, and planning our project, we took the opinions of earthquake experts. In this regard, we also took the opinions of our Professor Naci, who is one of the rarest academics raised by Turkey and at the highest level. And we invited him to share his views with us at this earthquake panel, and he explained both the earthquake and the importance of horizontal construction in earthquakes; we thank him as well," he said.

"YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE"

Stating that there was a possibility to make the whole of Turkey an earthquake-resistant country in the 25 years following the Marmara earthquake, Prof. Dr. Naci Görür said, "We could not prepare Istanbul for an earthquake in 25 years. 1999 - 2025, 26 years have passed. Do you know what earthquake resilience means? It means a city that survives a major earthquake with minimum damage. That is, there will certainly be damage, but it will be so minor that you can finish repairs in two days, and daily life does not even change. Earthquakes happen in Japan, in Taiwan. The man is sitting at the table, holding his teacup so it doesn't fall or spill. After the earthquake ends, he continues his work. He does not say after this earthquake, 'My house has collapsed, my wife and child are under the rubble.' It never even crosses his mind. He does not think that his child is under the rubble at school either. Why? Because they build resilient structures. Why don't we? Why? Why? Because haven't our fights and noise ended yet? It never ends. The earthquake is a matter above politics. Never associate the earthquake with partisanship or party politics. We do not collect our corpses from under the rubble by saying 'this party, that party.' We collect them as our own people. We are not this. We cannot show ourselves to the world as being like this. We need to solve this issue. The message I will give you, and the reason I came to Gebze in particular, is this. We now want earthquake-resistant cities. Who is responsible for this? You are. You will say, 'How, Professor, what do I have? I am a retiree. Who will listen to me? I am a poor man.' No, you are not. You are the owner of the property. You are the owner of the state, the owner of this country, the owner of these lands. If you say 'yes' to something, it happens; if you say 'no,' it does not. Therefore, use this power of yours. Do not be partisan, do not engage in politics, do not engage in party politics. Especially regarding the earthquake, love your people. Show compassion to our people," he said.

"YOU WILL MAKE THE COMPONENTS THAT FORM THAT CITY EARTHQUAKE-RESISTANT"

Saying that earthquake-resistant cities can be built, Prof. Dr. Görür said, "No matter what, if someone comes to govern you, say, 'Come, by all means, okay. Do you want to govern me? My request from you is this: You will make the city I live in, for example, Gebze, earthquake-resistant. If you have the intention, the plan, and the program for this, my vote is yours.' As long as you cannot say this, we cannot solve this issue. Now you will say, is this difficult? It is not difficult. It is possible for us to do this by mobilizing the state's existing structure, organization, and units. Making a city earthquake-resistant means making the components of that city earthquake-resistant. That is, if you are going to make a city earthquake-resistant, you will make the components that form that city earthquake-resistant. A city has 6 components. Management, public, infrastructure, building stock, ecosystem and environment, and economy. How will you do these? You will first reveal the danger that threatens you. This is the fault system that threatens me. It produces an earthquake of this magnitude. If this earthquake happens, it will damage these components of mine in such and such a way. You research this in advance. Before the earthquake comes, while there is no earthquake yet. You prepare those components for the earthquake. When the earthquake comes, because you have prepared them, the components do not harm you. However, if there is minor damage, we can handle that in a short time as well," he said.

Finally, underlining that the earthquake problem must be solved, Prof. Dr. Görür said, "Whether you grasp it or not, the real survival issue of Turkey is this earthquake. If we cannot resolve these earthquakes, we have no future. We will have neither economic independence nor political independence. They will not let us keep this country. We must solve this earthquake problem," he said.

News Source: İHA