Factors effective in coping with destructive impacts of the February 6, 2023 Kahramanmaraş earthquakes

During and after an earthquake, the body reacts to the difficulty it experiences. It enters the shock, pacification and recovery periods, respectively. During the shock period, people cannot notice the events around them, cannot feel pain, cannot hear sounds and cannot make sense of what they hear. During the pacification period, although people hear the commands and try to carry them out, they cannot find the strength to do so. During the recovery period, people try to help the people around them and look for blame for the high losses and negligence in the earthquake. People overcome the traumatic effects of the earthquake by experiencing these periods, and they try to overcome these periods in a healthy way within the specified time intervals. When people cannot overcome these periods, many psychological disorders such as depression, anxiety disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder occur. Mourning is experienced due to earthquake losses and this is expressed as the process of adapting to life by accepting the absence of loss after going through certain stages. In determining the destructive impacts of an earthquake, the duration of exposure to the impacts of the earthquake and the severity of this exposure are the determining factors. Furthermore, it is not uncommon to encounter situations such as harsh weather conditions, floods, the cessation of industrial production, people not being able to benefit from disaster aid, inability to reach funerals or earthquake victims, the collapse of buildings and the destruction of infrastructure systems within the earthquake struck region following the earthquake. These sitiuations cause the destructive impacts of the earthquake to be felt even more. Along with the loss of souls and property, the devastating impacts of the earthquake cause some psychological and physical health problems. The body feels that it is dealing with a great force that it cannot afford. Nevertheless, it has the ability to cope with difficulties by resting upon some factors that provide coping capacity. In the present study, the factors that are effective in coping with the physical and psychological devastating impacts of the February 6, 2023 Pazarcık (MW=7.8) and Elbistan (MW=7.6) earthquakes in Kahramanmaraş province are examined. The earthquakes occurred along the East Anatolian Fault Zone, which is one of the major tectonic feature in Türkiye, and caused widespread damage in 11 provinces (Kahramanmaraş, Hatay, Antakya, Adıyaman, Gaziantep, Malatya, Osmaniye, Adana, Kilis, Şanlıurfa ve Diyarbakır provinces) that host a population of about 14 million. The East Anatolian Fault Zone has been known with its high earthquake hazard and produced many destructive large earthquakes in the history. A questionnaire and a coping attitudes assessment scale called COPE are used to assess the physical and psychological impacts of the earthquakes and coping responses to the stress encountered in the ensuing crisis environment. The questionnaire is developed from the previous studies and includes 46 questions that are classified in two subsections. The subsections are entitled as Demographic Information and The Earthquake Experience. The questionnaire has been conducted both in the field and via internet using Google Forms. The COPE scale had been developed abroad and was later translated in Turkish with some changes to its inventory. The COPE scale will provide to assess a broad range of coping responses after these stressful experiences. The investigation comprises 117 earthquake victims living in Kahramanmaraş, Gaziantep and Adıyaman provinces, which are heavily devastated by the earthquakes. 54 women and 63 men with age above 18, 54 per cent of which having age smaller than 35, contributed to the investigation. The main finding of the questionnaire is that the social capital, place attachment and being religious are the major factors in coping with the devastating impacts of the earthquakes and accompanying high stress level. The high stress levels in the ensuing crisis caused both psychological and physical health problems including depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety disorders, acute stress disorders, shortness of breath, heart problems and frequent thought of death. According to the questionnaire results, most of the participants abondoned their buildings during the earthquake and were not trapped under the rubble. When describing the emotions they felt at the time of the earthquake, they stated that they felt very intense fear, anxiety and helplessness. They further stated that they could not sleep at night and that they were very scared. This situation shows how much the destructive impacts of the earthquake affect people even if they are not trapped under the collapsed building. Although the behavior of escaping during an earthquake is an instinct that comes from inside, it indicates that people are uneducated and unprepared for earthquakes. Because one should go out after the earthquake shaking stops. The survey showed that more than half of the earthquake victims preferred to stay in the earthquake struck area, and those who migrated from the earthquake victims returned after a short time. This shows that place identity exists in people and place attachment is a strong coping factor as revealed in the previous studies. It has been observed that being able to access disaster aid is an effective factor in coping with the devastating impacts of the earthquake, and the scale results support this result. Who should be given priority in distributing disaster aid is also examined. It is obtained that priority should be given to those in need. This shows that it is important to cope socially rather than individually. According to the data obtained, the priority people to whom assistance should be given should be children, the elderly and women, as well as heads of families. In the questionnaire, it is seen that the number of those receiving psychological support is low and that they receive little benefit, and the scale results supports this data. When the reasons for this situation are examined, it is observed that earthquake victims have family, relatives, friends, neighbors and acquaintances in their social circle before the earthquake and that they had strong social ties. The earthquake victims state that their existing social relations became even stronger after the earthquake. The study results reveal that the social capital of earthquake victims is strong and is a strong factor in coping with the earthquake. According to the COPE scale results, the coping rates of the participants are high. The COPE scale suggests that the women, the families with 4 or more children, the lower education status, civil servants and the people worshipping frequently and receiving more disaster aid have higher coping capacity. The study also reveals that disaster workers implements their duties with happiness and harmony in short periods (1-2 months) but feel exhausted and burnout for long periods (4-6 months).