Our university prepared a report regarding the efforts carried out for earthquake victims and students to heal their wounds as soon as possible and to eliminate the material and spiritual damage caused by the earthquake disaster, which occurred on February 6, 2023, centered in Kahramanmaraş and affected eleven provinces.

Comprehensive studies were conducted for search and rescue, health services, and damage assessment with the resources of our university to support the region and to assist our students, personnel, and citizens who were affected by the earthquake and came to Trabzon. Our university sent heavy machinery to the region for debris removal. Also, efforts were put into meeting the basic needs of earthquake victims, such as clothing, food, and cleaning. Personnel and aid were delivered to affected areas from the first day of the earthquake. Our university took action with an emergency action plan, assigned personnel, and developed communication channels with more than 200 students and more than 80 personnel to share information on the organization of aid through our website. Voluntary people worked in shifts to classify the aid and transfer it to the collection areas.

Accommodation Services for Earthquake Victims

165 earthquake victims were accommodated at Koru Facilities and Student Guesthouse to provide a solution to the housing problem of citizens evacuated from the earthquake zone. In addition to meeting our guests' accommodation and nutrition needs, art and sports activities were also organized to speed up their normalization process. Besides, guidance services were provided by the Psychological Counseling Center. Clothing and cleaning materials were procured from the centers determined by AFAD, and transportation service was provided for earthquake-affected children whose school registrations were completed.

Communication with Our Students and Staff Affected by the Earthquake

It has been determined that 2955 KTU students have been affected by the earthquake. Personal contact information of our university's Vice Rector and General Secretary has been shared with all of these students via text message to enable them to convey their needs and requests. Additionally, communication has been established with these students through the KTU Earthquake Communication Center (DİM) established at our university. In order to support the creation and improvement of post-earthquake living conditions for our students and staff directly or indirectly affected by the earthquake, as well as earthquake victims directed to our university by the competent authorities to be hosted, the KTU Earthquake Communication Center was established with the participation of our volunteer staff and students.

As a result of the study, communication was established with 127 staff affected by the earthquake. It was determined that the health status of 118 of our staff who were in those cities during the earthquake were good, while 9 were receiving treatment. Information activities were carried out through live broadcasts on KTU TV with the participation of experts.

Health Services

Health service support was provided to earthquake victims staying at our university in Farabi Hospital. In addition, our volunteer health personnel provided support to the health services carried out in the earthquake zone from the first day of the earthquake, and health services were provided to earthquake victims coming to Trabzon.

Project Studies

Within the scope of the TÜBİTAK 1002-C Emergency Support Program for Natural Disasters Focused Field Study, supported by TÜBİTAK to collect data following natural disasters within the borders of our country, three projects were deemed worthy of support by TÜBİTAK:

The project titled "Preliminary Examination of Ground Structure and Characteristics with Geophysical Measurements in 4 Provinces (Kahramanmaraş, Hatay, Gaziantep, Malatya) Where Earthquakes Cause Excessive Damage and Loss of Life", the project titled "Detection of Radon Quantity in Thermal Waters and Soil in the Areas of the February 06, 2023, Earthquake and Investigation of Its Relationship with the Earthquake", and the project titled "Structural Damage Detected in Engineering Structures after the Kahramanmaraş (Pazarcık and Elbistan) Earthquakes on February 06, 2023, Their Causes and Recommendations for the Future". At the same time, our researchers conducted studies in the earthquake zone.