​​​​​​​Were Erdogan's dams a catalyst for the devastating earthquake?

And press reports talked about the role of the many dams spread in Turkey; The earthquake occurred, especially with the presence of more than 2,000 dams, water reservoirs and artificial lakes inside Turkey.

The Turkish regime built dozens of dams on the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. What caused a major crisis and water scarcity that reached the point of drought in Syria and Iraq.

earthquake zone

Egyptian expert dams and professor of geology at Cairo University, Abbas Sharaki, confirmed that "Turkey, by virtue of its geographical location and geological nature, is considered an earthquake zone, because it includes a major group of large faults, as well as the presence of separators between continental blocs, such as Africa, Europe, and the Arab bloc with Europe."

He told ANHA’s agency, "This geological formation makes Turkey vulnerable to earthquakes in a manner similar to what is happening in Japan and the Pacific countries," pointing out at the same time that "dams scientifically do not cause earthquakes, but when soil instability and the geological nature of the region meet in the presence of huge dams, the result is what happened."

And he stressed that "dams alone do not create strong earthquakes, as evidenced by the fact that there was a devastating earthquake that occurred in Turkey in 1939, and there were no dams." Pointing out that "the role of dams appears when they are built in an area that is geologically unstable or has large faults, as is the case in southern Anatolia."

According to Sharaki, "Turkey has more than 600 dams, which is a huge number, and there is a project to build 22 more in the southern Anatolia region. 10 of them have been completed so far, and the water storage has reached 120 billion cubic meters, this is a very dangerous matter due to the geological nature of the region. Being an earthquake environment due to the presence of a large fault, in addition to being a clear assault on the water rights of countries such as Syria and Iraq.

In his turn, the former Egyptian Minister of Irrigation, Dr. Hossam Maghazi, saw that there are several causes of earthquakes, especially in a region such as Anatolia, known for its seismic activity, as it had previously witnessed many devastating earthquakes.

Maghazi ruled out, in statements to ANHA’s agency, that "dams have a role or influence in the occurrence of earthquakes, explaining that as long as the region is seismically active, the land is prepared for earthquakes in general."

He pointed out that "some theories believe that the presence of large weights and the storage of huge amounts of water from dams may be one of the catalysts for the occurrence of earthquakes, but in itself it is not one of the causes of earthquakes."

Maghazi concluded, "It is difficult to say for sure that there is a role for dams in the occurrence of earthquakes without conducting in-depth studies on the matter, pointing out at the same time that he excludes this matter."