12 March 2010 / NUH GÖNÜLTAŞ, BUGÜN,
Mud bricks are a reality of Anatolia. Soil is mixed with straw. Water is added to this mixture, and the resulting mud is cast into wooden molds and left to dry under the sun. Dried mud bricks are then used to make walls by using mud as a glue between them.
As these houses are built, construction techniques, static calculations and earthquakes are not taken into consideration. The only purpose is to have an enclosed space where one can live as a family. We are in 2010, and a considerable portion of our population still lives in primitive conditions. And it is equally unfortunate that we realize this only when an earthquake hits these mud-brick houses, killing dozens of our people. If it were not for the earthquake, everything would continue as it is forever. Thus, we can say that general disasters like earthquakes cause much destruction and loss of life, but they also send important messages to the general public. An earthquake surrounds the mind, changing its perceptions. It tells us that it is time to change. It triggers a revolution in the mind.
