New statements on the earthquake from Interior Minister Yerlikaya, Minister of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change Kurum, and Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Abdulkadir Uraloğlu

Hundreds of aftershocks have occurred following the 6.2 magnitude earthquake that took place off the coast of Silivri.

Interior Minister Yerlikaya, Minister of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change Kurum, and Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Abdulkadir Uraloğlu made statements regarding the developments following the earthquake.

Statements by Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya:

-Aftershocks are trending downward, and calls are also decreasing.

-The number of our citizens in parks and gardens has decreased compared to yesterday. 41 municipalities and NGOs are on duty.

-We always say, and we reiterate what we have expressed since the very first moment of the earthquake, that our state has been on alert since the first moment of the earthquake.

-Statements by Minister Kurum:

-Since the first moment of the earthquake, all our institutions and organizations have continued to fulfill their duties. We held our meeting under the coordination of AFAD. Afterward, we had the opportunity to determine the current situation by going to the field.

-Our work continues intensively in Istanbul with all our teams and equipment in the field. We have received 1,756 damage reports; approximately 80 percent of the reports in Istanbul are concentrated on the European side. The districts with the most reports are Avcılar, Esenler, and Bahçelievler. We observed that no damage occurred in 1,467 of these reports. We have determined that a total of 83 of our buildings have minor damage.

-Our teams are continuing simultaneous field work in 39 districts. Our assessments of public buildings and dormitories in Istanbul are ongoing, and hospitals are also being scanned rapidly.

-The Istanbul damage assessment report will be updated. We care deeply about our assessments for the sake of people's future. We will examine the assessments district by district and resolve the problems there with our scientists, our mayors, and our governor.

-The biggest problem in Istanbul is the earthquake. This problem can never be postponed. The building stock in Istanbul cannot tolerate even a minute of loss.

-If we do not carry out this transformation and make our buildings sound, the future of Istanbul is at risk; Istanbul is becoming increasingly congested day by day. The Istanbul earthquake is a security issue that will even affect Turkey's independence.

-We will continue to meet all demands from municipalities. We will continue to build social housing on one hand and carry out urban transformation on the other. I say let us support Istanbul's transformation mobilization.

Statements by Minister Uraloğlu:

-When we look at transportation, there were no problems. We stopped transportation at our airport for a short time, and we resumed service after runway checks. It was observed that there were no significant problems with bridges and tunnels on highways and railways. I would like to state that we only switched to yellow alert on the Marmaray and proceeded with speed control. There were no problems on Istanbul's main transportation axes, and the improvements to the bridges on the D100 and TEM had a significant effect.

-Regarding reports of communication issues, I would like to inform you that we expanded our capacity during the 2019 Silivri earthquake. 85 percent of calls made via GSM were answered. There were no problems with digital messaging applications; we want internet-based communication channels to be used during peak moments.

News Source: 12punto