In the Dec. 12 earthquake later that year, miners stepped in again, successfully rescuing 71 people trapped in rubble. Due to the risky nature of their profession, many miners have painful experiences dealing with cave-ins and other disasters involving collapses. With their occupational expertise in working in tight, dark spaces, many miners rose to the occasion after the Aug. 17 and Dec. 12 earthquakes in an effort that saved many lives.
After the early morning earthquake that struck on Aug. 17, municipal emergency response teams whose resources were exhausted by the sheer magnitude of the damage requested that the TTK send help. Even though the mines at Zonguldak were 250-300 kilometers from the earthquake zone, and despite intermittent closings on the D100 and E90 freeways, heavy traffic and a lack of preparation or training, by 11 p.m. teams of miners had reached the site of the disaster. In the provinces of Kocaeli, Sakarya and Yalova, particularly in the district of Gölcük, the earthquake epicenter, 1,564 miners and 74 mining engineers managed to bring 32 people out of the rubble alive, also digging out 447 corpses.
In the Dec. 12 earthquake, over the course of three days miners brought a total 71 people out of the rubble safe and sound using mining techniques.
TTK work safety expert and mining engineer Erdinç Günay attributes the miners' success to their occupational experience. He explains that miners draw upon 150 years of mining experience and training in how to get themselves and their colleagues out of a cave-in as soon as possible. He says it was natural for them to pitch in to post-disaster efforts, saying that whenever there is a disaster such as a collapse, they operate on the principle of “I could have been in the trapped person's place, and they'd do the same for me.” Miners have to be able to make and implement snap decisions all by themselves in the dark in mines, he said.
Günay also said that following the miners' success after the earthquakes, the TTK established a 440-person team, 40 of them technical staff, to specialize in emergency aid efforts, which he says is always on call in case their help is needed in another earthquake.
