The government of istanbul announced this Saturday that more than 50,000 students from 93 schools in the city will be transferred starting next Monday to other educational centers in buildings built to be waterproof. earthquakes.
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The measure comes thirteen days after two strong earthquakes, measuring 7.7 and 7.6, devastated southeastern Turkey and northern Syria, leaving more than 45,000 dead and tens of thousands of buildings collapsed.
Experts have been warning for years that Istanbul, Turkey's largest city, could suffer a devastating earthquake at any time.
“Starting Monday, February 20, 2023, our students from 93 schools and educational institutions in (buildings at) risk will be transferred to earthquake-proof schools”the Istanbul Governor's Office announced in a statement.
Thus, “51,995 students and 2,765 teachers” They will have to change schools and continue their education in schools built with special technology to resist earthquakes, the note said.
The plan includes the demolition of 76 schools, while another 17 will be reformed and reinforced.
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As reported today by the Afad emergency service, the number of fatalities from the earthquakes registered so far in Turkey amounts to 40,642, but there are still tens of thousands under the rubble of the destroyed buildings, so it is expected to continue rising sharply. significant.
Some 430,000 people have so far been evacuated by the Turkish authorities, Afad said.
This humanitarian catastrophe, considered the worst disaster the region has suffered in more than a century, has unleashed a virulent discussion over the lack of specific buildings to withstand an earthquake, and has sounded the alarm especially in Istanbul.
Official data indicates that in the city of the Bosphorus there are more than a million buildings, of which, according to experts, 250,000 would collapse in the event of a 7.5-magnitude earthquake, while another 91,810 would suffer serious damage or very serious, and more than 167,000 would be left with medium-sized damage.
