Case Study: Non-structural mitigation in Turkey

Case Study: Turkey’s high vulnerability to earthquakes is significantly compounded by socio-economic factors. Following two devastating earthquakes in 1999, the Turkish Red Crescent Society (TRCS), American Red Cross (ARC) and Bogazici University began a series of collaborative activities aimed at community risk reduction.

Find here its main recommendations :

• Non-structural mitigation (NSM) provides a critical set of first steps towards risk reduction that ordinary people can begin applying today
• Governments, universities and Red Cross Red Crescent National Societies need to collaborate and combine their strengths. Each has a unique role to play.
• In Turkey there is tremendous diversity in types of building and lifestyles, especially between urban and rural areas and between different regions. These factors must be considered when creating targeted training materials for specific audiences and when researching and further refining NSM education programmes.
• It is critical that universities and related institutions continue to conduct research to strengthen and develop the training and educational aspects of NSM. TRCS, universities and other partners should continue evaluations to ensure that materials are easily understandable and appropriate for dissemination to the general public.