Ekrem Imamoglu: The big earthquake will happen in the city sooner or later
The mayor of Greater Istanbul, Ekrem Imamoglu, said that work must be done very vigorously to protect the city, because the big earthquake will happen in Istanbul, sooner or later.
During a press conference to announce a plan titled “Comprehensive Mobilization for the Istanbul Earthquake,” Imamoglu said: “Everyone must realize that a major earthquake will happen in Istanbul, sooner or later, and therefore we must work very vigorously to protect the city, if we want all to have life”.
“We must succeed in our mission, as they succeeded in California, Mexico, Japan and other regions around the world,” he stressed.
The competent authorities in Türkiye estimate that tens of thousands of buildings in Istanbul are at risk of complete collapse, in the event of a 7.5-magnitude earthquake, which means that a major catastrophe may occur.
The government and the opposition in Türkiye alike exchange political accusations as a result of the great earthquake.
The Turkish opposition accuses the government of having largely failed to deal with the earthquake crisis in the south of the country, in its early days, which is the most dangerous, important and decisive in reaching survivors.
The Turkish opposition also says that “the government failed the test to monitor the work of contractors and the construction of new buildings, and that the ruling party hasn’t implemented any serious projects, since it came to power nearly 20 years ago, to confront the danger of the earthquake and limit its damages and losses due to it, especially in the city of Istanbul, where it lives”.
About 20 million people, it’s the largest and most crowded city in the country, and it’s located on the seismic fault line that passes through the Marmara region.
