Children After Earthquake: Maraş Earthquake in Türkiye

Abstract

Türkiye has experienced the most destructive earthquake disaster in recent years. On February 6, 2023, two earthquakes of more than seven magnitudes occurred in Türkiye, first in Pazarcık and then in Elbistan districts of Kahramanmaraş province. These earthquakes caused the deaths of more than 50 thousand people and billions of dollars in damage. The earthquakes had serious effects on every segment of society, including children. This study, which aimed to examine the opinions of individuals about children in such a big earthquake, examined 3.450 tweets sent in February 2023. While the researchers used Maxqda to analyze tweets regarding hashtags, likes, retweets, and source devices, they used Python for sentiment analysis. The findings highlighted that the words AFAD (Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency), education, and psychology were frequently used as hashtags in tweets about children. In addition, the study observed that tweets with very few likes and retweets did not arouse much interest in people. The findings of the sentiment analysis indicated that the tweets were quite negatively oriented. The study’s findings can guide future actions and plans concerning the earthquake and children.