Are you ready for the quake?

It is not possible to prevent earthquakes. It is also impossible to know exactly when, where or how strong a big earthquake will hit.

Frightening figures

But, we know two-thirds of the people in Turkey live in earthquake-prone regions and that 100,000 people died in the 56 earthquakes higher than a magnitude of 6.0 in the last 100 years.

We also know the kind of result an earthquake will have depending on its location and magnitude. For example, our state has officially calculated and put in figures the amount of people who will face a life threatening risk if an earthquake higher than a magnitude of 7.0 occurs in Istanbul. I could not show the courage to even write that frightening number here. Our state was not content with this.

They have calculated that in Turkey, there are seven million buildings that are not earthquake resistant, about 14 million buildings that need to be converted against the risk of earthquake, and that 500 billion Turkish Liras will be necessary for this transformation.

Akdağ's three-year plan

From now on, Deputy Prime Minister Recep Akdağ is responsible for earthquake coordination. I spoke with him recently on the phone. He was still working although it was quite late. 

He is someone who has made the biggest transformation in Turkey's healthcare system and I am quite optimistic he will succeed in the same test on the earthquake issue.

He started speaking and mentioned an interesting detail I had heard for the first time.

Until today, of the people who have died as a result of natural disasters (such as floods, earthquakes, and landslides) in Turkey, 97 percent have died in earthquakes. In other words, many events come...