Video, Dr. McKenzie Protecting Babies in 1999 Turkish Earthquake Disaster
In 1999 the Turkish Psychological Association asked Dr. McKenzie to train their psychologists to help the earthquake victims. There were 50,000 killed, 50,000 hospitalised, and 200,000 living in tents. Dr. McKenzie is interviewed by Miss Turkey on Turkish National Television, and he explains why it is critical to focus first on the needs of the babies.
1999 Turkey Earthquake August 17, 1999
The 1999 Turkey earthquake was a 7.6 magnitude earthquake that devistated northwestern Turkey on August 17, 1999, at about 3:01am The event lasted for only 37 seconds, but killed 40 to 45 thousand people,leaving approximately 500.000 thousand people homeless. The nearby city of Izmit was very badly damaged.
The death toll increased in the following winter, due to poor conditions the survivors were living in. Reports from September 1999 show that 120,000 poorly engineered houses were damaged beyond repair, 50,000 houses were heavily damaged, 2,000 other buildings collapsed and 4,000 other buildings were heavily damaged.
The earthquake was heavily felt in this industrialized and densely populated urban area of the country, including oil refineries, several automotive plants, and the Turkish navy headquarters and arsenal in Gölcük, increasing the severity of the loss of life and property. The earthquake caused a subsequent fire due to collapse of a tower in a Tüpras oil refinery. The refinery had over 700,000 tons of oil stored. It took several days to get the fire under control.
People inspect the wreckage of houses in Turkey!
The oil refinery is on fire!