Text adopted on 9.4.92

The European Parliament,

A. whereas the town of Erzincan and the surrounding area in eastern Turkey were struck by a strong earthquake at 7.20 p.m. on 13 March 1992 which killed several hundred people,

B. whereas the town and the neighbouring villages were almost totally destroyed and it is essential to rebuild them without delay in order to alleviate the consequences of the disaster,

C. whereas most of the deaths occurred in modern concrete buildings with several storeys, while the old traditional houses in the region were less severely damaged,

D. mindful of the fact that a large part of Turkey lies in an earthquake zone where such disasters are a regular occurrence,

1. Regrets the large number of earthquake victims in the town of Erzincan and calls upon the Commission and the Member States to help Turkey rebuild the town and the region;

2. Calls upon the Commission and the Member States to provide scientific and technical assistance to help Turkey to build up an earthquake disaster service to alleviate the consequences of future earthquakes;

3. Notes that the most effective means of providing protection against earthquakes is to construct buildings which are earthquake-proof and calls upon the Commission to support research into this issue and to make the results available to regions where earthquakes are a hazard;

4. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Commission, Council, the governments and parliaments of the Member States, and the government and Grand National Assembly of Turkey.