[H-DS09] Human environment and disaster risk

[HDS09-P04] Urban Disaster Risk Mitigation and Disaster Awareness: Insights from the February 6th, 2023 Kahramanmaras Turkiye and the January 1st, 2024 Noto Peninsula Earthquakes, Japan

*Selcuk Toprak¹, Yoshiyuki Kaneda², Mayumi Sakamoto³, Aysegul Askan⁴, Altug Erberik⁴, Ibrahim Ozer⁵, Masahiro Sawada³, Bulent Akbas¹, Ahmet Anil Dindar¹, Ceren Ozer Sozdinler¹, Maki Koyama⁶, Engin Nacaroglu⁷, Oguz Dal¹, Kosuke Chimoto², Emel Sadikoglu¹, Muhammet Ceylan^1,8, Adem Eren Senturk^1,9 (1.Gebze Technical University , 2.Kagawa University, 3.University of Hyogo, 4.Middle East Technical University , 5.The Turkish Red Crescent, 6.Gifu University, 7.Pamukkale University, 8.Gelisim University, 9.Maltepe University)

Keywords:Disaster Awareness , MARTEST Project, Resilient Society, The February 6th, 2023 Kahramanmaras, Turkiye Earthquake, The January 1st, 2024 Noto Peninsula, Japan Earthquake, Urban Disaster Risk Mitigation

The recent earthquakes in Turkey and Japan reminded the importance of urban disaster risk mitigation and promoting disaster awareness once again. On February 6, 2023, two powerful earthquakes, measuring magnitudes of Mw7.7 and Mw7.6 respectively, struck 13 cities spanning the southern part of Turkey and the northern part of Syria, occurring just 9 hours apart, followed by thousands of aftershocks. Following the initial earthquake (Mw7.7, Pazarcik, Kahramanmaras), disaster response efforts were elevated to "Level 4," prompting international assistance from the United Nations, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), and many other countries including the deployment of the United Nations Disaster Assessment and Coordination (UNDAC) team from the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). A total of 266 international Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) teams, comprising approximately twelve thousand personnel, were actively engaged in the affected regions. This marked one of the most extensive rescue operations ever conducted. The total population affected by the earthquake was about 14,000,000. According to the latest reports, more than 53.000 people lost their lives, and hundreds of thousands more have been injured, displaced, or traumatized. The damage to various structures including buildings, lifelines, highways, bridges, and industrial facilities was intense. The recovery process is expected to take a long period of time.

On the first day of the new year in 2024, Japan experienced a significant earthquake. Measuring 7.6 on the Richter scale, this powerful earthquake struck Japan's Noto Peninsula on January 1st, 2024, leading to numerous fatalities, injuries, structural collapses, fires, and landslides. The earthquakes in Turkey and Japan heightened public awareness not only in the affected countries but also in other nations. The observations in the earthquake-affected areas underscored the significance of initiatives aimed at fostering earthquake-resistant societies. Such endeavors align with the goals of the newly launched SATREPS project titled "MARTEST: Establishment of a Research and Education Complex for Developing Disaster-Resilient Societies." This project, conducted through collaboration between Japan and Turkey with the cooperation of JST and JICA, seeks to advance efforts towards creating disaster-resilient communities.

Both Turkey and Japan contain numerous regions with elevated seismic risks. The building stock and infrastructure in these seismic-prone areas resemble those impacted by recent earthquakes. Therefore, accelerating efforts in urban disaster risk mitigation and disaster awareness is crucial in these regions. However, instead of concentrating solely on recovery, prioritizing proactive measures to reduce casualties, injuries, financial losses, and other adverse outcomes would be more impactful. This paper examines key insights gained from recent earthquakes and highlights implications for Turkey's Marmara area, identified as a high-risk zone. The MARTEST project is implementing targeted initiatives in this area for disaster preparedness and mitigation, along with broad education and training activities.