On 6 February, two massive earthquakes registering 7.8 and 7.5 on the Richter scale hit Diyarbakir, Turkey leaving more than 40,000 people dead and widespread devastation across the country and neighbour Syria. As after tremors continued to cause destruction, the equipment industry moved at a rapid pace to step in and help find survivors in the rubble.
The first call for help came from the Turkish Contractors Association (TMB) asking its members to mobilise their construction equipment and aid the rescue mission.
“It is important to reach the citizens under the rubble within 48 hours,” urged the TMB as the recovery of victims was made even more difficult with snow and heavy rain stalling rescue missions surrounding the hardest hit regions in Turkey and northern Syria.
“We offer our condolences to the relatives of those who lost their lives in the earthquake and a speedy recovery to the injured. We convey our best wishes to all of Turkey,” added the TMB in its statement to the media.
It became quickly apparent that this was a disaster not seen for several generations in the area and soon rescue teams and individual nations including France, Germany, the US and the UK were offering their assistance.
Reports initially estimated casualties in the region of 5,000 people but it was soon clear that thousands more were in trouble and likely killed during the devastating event.
“We always see the same thing with earthquakes, unfortunately, which is that the initial reports of the numbers of people who have died or who have been injured will increase quite significantly in the week that follows.”
Fortunately, the international machinery community was also soon stepping up to rush equipment to the hardest hit areas.
Within hours Doosan Bobcat said it would provide construction equipment for relief and recovery activities in the earthquake-stricken areas of Turkey.
In a statement, the company said that US $1mn worth of equipment would be promptly delivered through its dealer network, so as to be of practical help in lifesaving activities in affected areas, and to help restore critical infrastructure such as collapsed buildings and roads.
Doosan Group promised that the corporation would send around 1.25 billion won ($1 million) worth of Doosan Bobcat’s construction equipment for disaster relief in Turkey.
Doosan planned to promptly deliver the equipment, with the support of a local contractor, to be used for rescuing people and restoring basic infrastructure such as roads and buildings. The equipment would be delivered includes skid loaders and excavators to remove debris and portable power generators and lighting equipment to be used at sites with no electricity.
Doosan Group has provided its equipment and donations to disaster relief sites in the past, including for Hurricane Katrina in 2005, earthquakes in China in 2008, in Haiti in 2010 and in Japan in 2011, a typhoon in the Philippines in 2013 and another earthquake in Indonesia in 2018.
“We hope these can provide practical help in disaster relief and damage repair,” a spokesperson for Doosan said.
HD Hyundai was also soon responding to the disaster pledging to provide ten mid-size excavators through its local dealer to the regions hit by the earthquake.
“We hope the aid can provide some help for a quick recovery,” an HD Hyundai spokesperson said in a press release on Wednesday. “We hope that local residents will be able to return to their peaceful, daily lives as soon as possible.”
Hyundai Motor’s Turkish subsidiary, which runs its own manufacturing operation in Turkey also said it will send $500,000 in relief aid to the earthquake-ridden region. The corporation also rushed in $50,000 worth of equipment for rescue operations and use the other $450,000 for the purchase of rescue equipment and relief supplies for victims in consultation and through Turkey Disaster and Management Authority (AFAD).
Japan’s Bridgestone expressed “its deepest sympathy to all the people affected by the earthquake” and wished for a speedy and full recovery for the people and communities. It also said it would donate one million dollars through the Red Cross and a local foundation to support relief and rebuilding efforts for the people and areas affected by the earthquake.
Brisa, a joint venture of Bridgestone Corporation and Sabanci Holdings and Turkey’s tyre industry leader, also rapidly provided needed supplies to the affected areas.
Chinese manufacturer XCMG’s own Turkey subsidiary, which is stationed in Ankara, the capital of the country and 700km from the epicentre set up an emergency rescue group immediately following the earthquake led by Liu Jiansen, VP of XCMG Machinery and general Mmnager of XCMG Import & Export Co., Ltd. The group said it had been keeping in close touch with the frontline and dispatched rescue teams around the clock.
XCMG has approximately 600 units of excavators in Turkey, and XCMG Turkey activated their emergency response protocol immediately and reported the local situation to XCMG headquarters, while coordinating three
XCMG excavators that were deployed near Gaziantep to deliver aid in the disaster area.
XCMG Turkey said it reached out to multiple parties and arranged 12 units of excavators and loaders of different tonnage from close proximity to stand by, while actively answering to the call of the Chinese embassy in Turkey and General Chamber of Commerce of Chinese Enterprises in Turkey (the “Chamber”) to coordinate resources and provide assistance.
During the day following the initial earthquakes, a family of three were located and trapped in a collapsed three-story building in Iskenderun, Hatay Province. XCMG sent out an excavator immediately for the rescue mission.
Working for eight hours non-stop, operator Kerim Cesur cautiously removed the collapsed floor, bricks and rebars and successfully saved the family.
The following day an XCMG rescue team traveled 20 hours to Kırıkhan, Hatay, one of the most remote regions where the roads were seriously damaged by the earthquake, with freezing rain in low temperature. Operator Nevrez Ünsal saved two residents trapped from two collapsed buildings and fellow XCMG operators – and father and son – Talip Öztürk and Emre Öztürk, arrived in Gölbaşı, Adiyaman as first responders and worked over 10 hours to save a child from the ruins.
Over 100 XCMG staff and dealers were mobilised to help with the earthquake rescue. And as a member of the Chamber, XCMG Turkey also arranged flights, accommodations and supplies for rescue teams departing from China to aid the earthquake relief operation.
In the five hours after the first earthquake, XCMG purchased the first batch of recuse supplies, including blankets, baby products, hygiene products and more that total over 50,000 Turkish lira and delivered them to the hard-hit area at once, while working with local clients and dealers to deploy excavators, cranes and loaders and arrange operators to provide assistance.
“We also joined the TMB and signed up with the local authorities, prepared to respond to emergency rescue at any time,” said Liting Jin, country manager of XCMG Turkey. “The Turkish government has requisitioned all handcarts and transportation vehicles, the XCMG equipment has arrived in disaster areas to aid rescues, and we are also coordinating with our clients in Turkey to bring more assistance.”
As the rescue turned to questions about why homes and infrastructure in a vulnerable area were unable to withstand the quake, the TMB announced 100 people had been arrested in allegations related to building standards. It added that the industry would donate 1% of the cost of the public rebuilding efforts in 2023, amounting to $0.25 billion.
“As the Turkish Contractors Association family – the contracting companies that have completed the most important projects in our country – we have decided to contribute to the reconstruction effort, in order to meet the housing needs of our more than one million citizens who have become homeless, as soon as possible.
“Public contractors, who are not members of our Association, with whom we had the opportunity to share our decision, also stated that they agree with our proposal.”
“Our companies have also opened construction site facilities in the region to meet the shelter and food needs of our citizens in the disaster, and they have started to work on the establishment of container and tent cities and have sought to supply a large number of food and necessities.”
