Our team’s Hakan Keleş helps build the “Acil İzmir” app

Computer engineer Hakan Keleş from the KONFED project team was part of the team that developed the “Acil İzmir” (Emergency İzmir) mobile app. Thanking Hakan Keleş, KONFED–KONVAK President Mehmet Aydoğan said: “We are proud that a colleague from the KONFED project team took part in this work, which is of great importance for İzmir. As a foundation and a federation, contributing to work that benefits humanity makes us very happy.”

After the 30 October earthquake that shook İzmir, the İzmir Metropolitan Municipality, which has quickly launched many initiatives to make the city resilient to disasters, developed the “Acil İzmir” mobile app to reach and communicate with people trapped under rubble in a possible earthquake. The life-saving app was introduced to the public at a press conference at the Historic Gasworks.

Opening the meeting, İzmir Metropolitan Mayor Tunç Soyer said that after the 30 October İzmir earthquake they had made preparing for earthquakes and similar disasters their top priority and had launched many initiatives. Describing the “Acil İzmir” app as an exemplary result of this work, Soyer said: “I want everyone to download this app to their phone, share it with their whole family and spread the word widely. Because in a possible disaster, many lives will be saved with this app.”

We must be prepared for the risk of earthquakes

Reminding the audience that earthquakes are a consequence of the geological reality of the country and of İzmir, Soyer continued:

“This reality, which we are reminded of with every disaster, makes it essential for us to be prepared for the risk of earthquakes. In the 30 October İzmir earthquake, we were reminded once again of the importance of search and rescue, and that the faster it is, the more lives we can save. To rescue our people trapped under the rubble of collapsed buildings, fire crews of our İzmir Metropolitan Municipality, AFAD, our district municipalities and hundreds of search and rescue teams from other provinces worked intensively and feverishly for days. Thanks to the selfless efforts of all the teams, we managed to bring 107 of our citizens out of the rubble alive. Though our hearts ache for the 117 lives we lost, our girls Elif and Ayda, rescued after 65 and 91 hours, gave hope to us all. With this app, in a possible earthquake in our city, we will ensure that the locations of citizens trapped under rubble reach our fire crews instantly, and that they can be found by a Bluetooth search without even needing the internet. Our rescue teams will be able to send a command to the phones of citizens under the rubble and locate them by making them sound a siren.”

The app will save lives

Mayor Soyer also pointed out that the app quickly and easily shows the nearest assembly areas, with distances and directions: “The app also makes it easy for earthquake survivors and volunteers who want to help them to come together. We designed this app to provide information before an earthquake and to make sure our citizens can get every kind of help they need afterwards. In a possible earthquake, our Acil İzmir app is a truly original and vital piece of work through which we can follow the condition of every survivor in real time and, with a constant flow of information, tell citizens under the rubble by voice what they need to do to stay alive until our fire crews rescue them.”

We achieved miracles after the earthquake

Mayor Soyer also summarised the work carried out after the 30 October İzmir earthquake:

“In a short time we achieved great things, even miracles. We said we would not leave any of our citizens without a roof in the cold winter months; less than a month after the earthquake, we took down the last tent in İzmir and gave every survivor a home. Thanks to the solidarity campaign we launched, besides thousands of food and hygiene parcels, we met every need of our survivors for their new homes, from sofas to household appliances. We said our biggest priority after the earthquake was urban transformation, and we accelerated the major transformation drive we are carrying out over 248 hectares in İzmir. Only last Sunday, we laid the foundations of the second phase of our Örnekköy urban transformation project. Evacuation and demolition are under way in the third phase, and tender preparations for the fourth. We said we would not allow any citizen whose home was damaged in the earthquake to lose their rights. Our Metropolitan Municipal Council passed a unanimous decision on the transformation of risky buildings. We said we would draw up an inventory of İzmir’s building stock to determine whether the buildings in our city are at risk and to make sure everyone can live safely in their homes. We allocated 200 million lira from our budget. We signed a protocol with the Chamber of Civil Engineers and started work. We said we would carry out every kind of work to be prepared for all possible earthquakes and make use of the opportunities offered by information technology and digitalisation. And today we have developed the Acil İzmir mobile app, which, thanks to technology, will allow us to respond much faster and save more lives in a possible earthquake.”

We are proud

Saying they were delighted to bring such vital work to İzmir, Mayor Soyer said: “Leading the way for our country, as in so many areas, makes us very happy. Today I was proud once again to be from İzmir and to be part of the İzmir Metropolitan Municipality. I remember once more the lives we lost in the earthquake, and I extend my gratitude to our Department of Information Technology, Department of Mapping and GIS, Fire Department and all my colleagues who worked on developing the Acil İzmir mobile app.”

The app was presented

At the meeting, Head of the Department of Information Technology Ata Temiz presented the mobile app. “We are proud to offer our people this service, which we prepared in a short time. I hope we never need to use this app. If we do, we sincerely believe it will save many lives,” Temiz said.

The launch, where a promotional film made of drill footage was also shown, was attended by Ambassador Naciye Gökçen Kaya, İzmir Representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Konak Mayor Abdül Batur; Karşıyaka Mayor Cemil Tugay; Bayraklı Mayor Serdar Sandal; Çiğli Mayor Utku Gümrükçü; Tire Mayor Salih Atakan Duran; Zekeriya Mutlu, President of the Union of Chambers of Tradesmen and Craftsmen; İzmir Metropolitan Municipality officials, council members, and representatives of professional chambers and civil society organisations.

How does Acil İzmir work?

*The Acil İzmir mobile app can be downloaded free of charge from the App Store and Play Store.

*After an earthquake, even when citizens cannot reach their phones, they can call out the “Find me” command, or press the “I am under the rubble” button, to automatically share their call for help and their location with İzmir Metropolitan Municipality Fire Department officials.

*The Bluetooth signal of citizens under the rubble is switched on, and information such as signal strength and remaining battery level is passed to search and rescue teams.

*A 17 MHz sound signal is started, making it easier for rescue teams to locate the survivor while working on the rubble. Citizens under the rubble receive a voice message: “Your location has been sent to the teams. Don’t be afraid, we are very close to finding you!”

*The caller can also tell search and rescue teams how many people are with them, and can signal with a siren through the app to show their position for acoustic listening. With the “I am safe” button, citizens can send their location to relatives in the safety groups they set up beforehand and to İzmir Metropolitan Municipality Fire Department officials, letting them know by message that they are safe.