Istanbulites sad and worried after the earthquakes

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İstanbul Planning Agency (İPA) affiliated with the İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality (İBB) measured the happiness rate of İstanbulites as 2,7 in February, ranking it as the saddest month of İstanbulites since the study has been carried out. The happiness rate of İstanbulites that the study found in previous months was 4,9 on average.

Maraş centered February 6 earthquakes hit southern Turkey and northern Syria with the official death toll reaching over 50 thousand in Turkey alone.

February the saddest month

According to the study carried out by talking to 698 people on the phone between February 20 and March 13, 76 percent of the İstanbulites talked about the February 6 earthquakes the most at home.

Again in February, the life satisfaction of those living in İstanbul was measured at 3.7 out of 10 while 58 percent of the participants stated that they felt angry lately.

73.7 percent of participants stated that the expected earthquake in İstanbul is the agenda of the city, and 90.7 percent said that the February 6 earthquakes were the main agenda of Turkey.

Worries about the İstanbul earthquake

While a major earthquake is expected in the crowded metropole, 45.9 percent of the Istanbulites who are living in buildings constructed before 1999 think that their house/building will be severely damaged or will collapse.

While 50.1 percent say that they will be moving to another house if the building they are living in is found to be risky, 21.7 percent say that they will have to continue to stay since their economic conditions will not allow them to move to another house.

68.9 percent of the participants living in buildings constructed before 1999 believe that the building they are living in should be reinforced or renewed through urban transformation.

While 65.7 percent say that the central government should take charge of making the buildings in İstanbul earthquake resistant, 61.9 percent believe that the İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality should take on the task.

54.1 percent of İstanbulites plan to have their buildings checked for earthquake resistance and 19.2 percent said that their buildings should be renewed.

February 6 earthquakes

On February 6, two earthquakes with a magnitude of 7.7 and 7.6 struck the southern city of Maraş. The first quake in the Pazarcık district at 4.17 a.m. was followed by the second one in Elbistan about nine hours later.

The quakes affected 11 cities in Türkiye's south and southeast, as well as Syria's northern parts.

The official death toll from the quakes is over 50,000.

Nearly two million people have been displaced due to the earthquakes. (RT/PE)