Why Don't We Have Enough Thermal Cameras to Search for Earthquakes?

Thermal cameras are cameras that work with infrared radiation. It is a great technology that shows color from blue to red to yellow according to the temperature of the object held on it.

Is it expensive? No! 

It has a wide range of applications, for example, we use it in construction for thermal insulation tests, especially on window edges. 

It's probably used in other fields as well. Especially thermal cameras must be one of the most important military technologies. So there must be quite a lot of them in our country.

So why didn't someone check the debris with thermal cameras on the first day? 

There was no need for such a big organization, couldn't it have been possible to check in each city, maybe in groups of one or two, which buildings had someone alive under the rubble? Buildings where there was someone alive could have been recorded with a simple program and rescue teams, who are experts, could have been guided in the right way.

Of course, these things could have been done if disaster prepared teams had arrived on time. But the whole country was in shock. Even the specialized teams were able to reach the region much later.

Most of them tried to reach by road, but the highways were also affected by the earthquake.

Couldn't this organization have been done by helicopter? Why not, of course it could have. But even that requires organization. 

Who will do it?

AFAD, the Turkish Ministry of Interior, DED, the Disaster and Emergency Situations Management Presidency, is a coordination center established for such situations. 

Normally, it is an institution that was established precisely for these situations and should know what to do in disasters. It is an institution that has experts on its staff who are prepared for such situations, and which should be able to immediately deploy to the disaster area without receiving any special instructions from anyone.

It is an institution that should have all kinds of equipment at its disposal and should be organized throughout the country.

But unfortunately, even their own buildings were destroyed in the earthquake. 

It could not even deliver the thermal cameras, not to mention the thermal cameras I mentioned, not even the proper crushers and drills to the disaster area on time, leaving people on their own in many places for the first two days.

Can you hear me? Yes, this is how the debris was checked by shouting. However, maybe the earthquake victim who is under the rubble has fainted and cannot make a sound. And the volunteer rescuers say that there is no one alive in this rubble and go to another rubble. 

If someone with a thermal camera would look, they would see who is still alive.

Yes, thermal cameras came later. I don't know how many days later. These tools, which should have been on the field on the first day, started to check the wreckages days later. And not all of them. 

After so many days, the debris removal work had to be started.

Miracles are still happening, rescue operations are still not over. But it is futile, they are long gone. May they rest in peace.

Yes, this is a huge disaster, many countries in the world don't have disasters of this scale. 

But is that an excuse? 

Your country is an earthquake country. You should have built a building that would not collapse from the beginning. You should have thought of everything from the beginning and organized accordingly.

But then again, like a camel, what's right with us?

So sometimes I feel like I'm wasting my breath.

Even though not all the problems have been brought under control in the intervening time, there is some order now.

Nevertheless, the fact that there is still not enough sanitary security in the region poses a great risk of epidemics in the region in the coming days!

Even the toilet problem has not yet been solved in many places. Those reporting from the region say that a heavy fear has descended on the cities. 

There is still not enough water in many places. 

Electricity should at least have been provided by mobile lighting poles at night. But the cities are still pitch black at night.

Generous citizens from all over the country have sent aid. 

But those who brought aid left what they brought on the side of the road, almost all of it became garbage. 

You take care and prepare and send something and what you send is scattered here and there! 

Can you imagine? How sad!

We can't even organize the aid! We can't.

It is still not possible to say that anything is organized enough.

I will say, although I don't know exactly how we can do it, it is clear that something needs to be fixed. 

I think we are all aware that the state should be a state. 

Unfortunately, our state has failed completely in this disaster!

They say merit, yes, this is a big problem. Maybe it is our foremost problem. 

But our society actually has a mentality problem. 

The pain will soon be healed and this disaster will remain as a pain in our hearts for a while. But the trauma of these days will continue for a long time. It will not be so easily overcome.

We will be looking for criminals after a while. One or two contractors have already been arrested. I think investigations have been opened for a hundred-odd contractors.

Yes, it is very easy to become a contractor in our country. You just need to have some money, find some workers, establish a company and that's it. You are a contractor now. You can undertake anything. 

It's a world of supply and demand, if there is demand, you supply and earn your money. 

I mean, trade is your business, whether you make canned food and sell it or you build a building and sell it, is there any difference for you? There is no difference! Only yours is a life market!

But a building is a serious structure. If there's an earthquake, you can die under it!

Isn't there a risk of poisoning in canned food? There must have been people who ate spoiled canned food and got poisoned.

However, when it comes to buildings, an earthquake can be disastrous. 

So of course it should be investigated. 

But what about those who gave the license? What about them?

What about those who sold that concrete? All the concrete turned to rubble in the earthquake, so it can only be called concrete.

Or is cement to blame? You know, the chemical that holds gravel and sand together. I wanted to explain in case anyone doesn't know.

Or sand? Where did you get the sand? Maybe from the sea?

Maybe the iron is to blame! What did he say? I wasn't at the crime scene, Mr. Judge?

Shh! Silence, everyone's holding their breath.

Can you hear me? 

159 hours since the earthquake. The death toll has risen to 29,605. 

Forgive us all, we couldn't save you. 

Let's see how many more casualties we'll have. What a sad situation. So many lives!

Shut up for a second, I think I heard something!

Yes, it's become our classic, if there's a sound, all of us under the rubble are happy. I think there's a sound again in 159 hours.

We're doing silent listening, do you have anything to say? 

What else can we do, our thermal imaging camera is not enough, how else will we know if there is someone alive under the rubble or not?

I hope one more person comes out alive from Mount Nur. Another miracle. Our eyes fill with joy.

Another life from Hatay, 7th day, 162nd hour. How beautiful!

My condolences to you Turkey, this is our fate, if you want to resent, resent your fate. But don't rebel!

Love and respect to everyone from Moscow