2023-04-24 04:48:19
The cause of these departures is “the Big One”, a terrible earthquake of more than 7 on the Richter scale which might occur off the coast of Istanbul in a few months or years, according to the seismologists.
Indeed, the megalopolis of 16 million inhabitants is located a few tens of kilometers from the North Anatolian seismic fault. However, the segment of this fault located in the Sea of Marmara has not experienced an earthquake since 1766. A worrying sign, according to scientists, the accumulation of energy at this location might lead to a strong magnitude earthquake offshore from Istanbul.
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The signs of this concern are visible. In recent weeks, we have seen moving trucks on every street corner and apartments put up for sale by the hundreds.
“I’m scared of course”
In an outlying neighborhood of the city, Sibel and Alaatin Uludağ have decided to leave the city in a few months. Sibel told RTS that she “had very intense anxiety disorders for several weeks when the earthquake hit. For example, I was waiting by my daughter’s bed until morning.”
The couple will leave with their ten-year-old daughter, but their eldest son has decided to stay regardless. The latter, Ege, a student, is fatalistic: “I am afraid, of course, but there is nothing to be done. Twenty million people live in Istanbul. We cannot all leave this city”.
Direction Antalya
Many of these worried people are heading to Antalya, a large seaside town on the shores of the Mediterranean. A region not very exposed to seismic risks, but also overpriced and unprepared to accommodate so many inhabitants.
This is where Utku and Isil Çağırıcı put their suitcases a month ago. A hasty departure and in anguish. “We filled a suitcase, boxes, plastic bags, rented a small van and hit the road,” says Utku Çağırıcı, online language teacher.
The couple measure their luck to be able to work from anywhere and to be hosted by family. Because real estate prices have soared lately in Antalya.
“Many of my students would like to leave too, but they have their job, the school of the children, it is harder for them to change everything”, recognizes Utku Çağırıcı.
The city of Antalya might welcome tens of thousands of Istanbul residents in the coming months who have decided not to accept fate.
>> Details from Shona Battacharyya, correspondent in Istanbul on the Turkish government’s reconstruction plan:
Report: Mayalen de Castelbajac and Raphaël Boukandoura
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