Research Team of the IMHE, CAS Assisted Turkey in Emergency Support and Post-Disaster Reconstruction after the Earthquake
Publisher: CPJRC
time: 2023-03-16
On Feb. 6, 2023, two 7.8-magnitude earthquakes occurred in southern Turkey near its border region with Syria. More than ten provinces in southern Turkey were almost razed to the ground, and a large number of houses collapsed, causing heavy casualties and property losses. Immediately after the occurrence of the earthquake, the Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (the IMHE, CAS) based in Chengdu maintained a high degree of concern about the development of the disaster. An emergency response mechanism for major natural disasters was immediately activated, disaster assessment was launched, and active communication with the Turkish side has been maintained via the Chinese Academy of Sciences (the CAS). The Turkish side also requested help from the CAS, asking for technical support from its experts in related fields in the form of assistance in emergency support and post-disaster reconstruction.
On March 3, at the request from the Turkish side, Prof. Cao Jinghua, Executive Director of the Secretariat of the Alliance of International Science Organizations (ANSO), organized a meeting between the CAS and Turkey. Researcher Su Lijun, Deputy Director-General of the IMHE, CAS and Executive Deputy Director-General of the China-Pakistan Joint Research Center on Earth Sciences (the CPJRC), led the research team of the IMHE, CAS to participate in the bilateral online meeting.
At the meeting, Prof. Su Lijun introduced to the Turkish side the work already conducted by the IMHE, CAS, the CPJRC, and the research team of China part from IMHE in response to the earthquake occurred in Turkey, and put forward some suggestions for emergency disaster reduction and post-disaster reconstruction. At the same time, he expressed his hope to enhance bilateral understanding between the two sides through this meeting, and to establish a working group so as to strengthen their cooperative research. Researcher Zhou Gongdan from the IMHE, CAS introduced the Proposal of Alliance of International Science Organizations on Disaster Risk Reduction (ANSO-DRR) to the participants in terms of its strategic positioning and personnel composition. Prof. Uslular from Turkey gave a brief introduction on the earthquake, and the number and distribution of natural disaster emergency support projects in Turkey.
The participants conducted a full exchange and discussion on their own disciplines and possible future cooperation.
Team members of China part from IMHE, CAS and researchers from various disciplines in Turkey participated in the meeting.
Offline meeting participants
Online meeting participants
