An Oral History Study on Earthquake with Secondary School Students: What Did I Experience During the 17 August 1999 Earthquake?

Abstract

Turkey constantly faces the reality of earthquake natural disasters. As it is known that earthquake natural disasters have occurred in the past, we can predict that earthquakes may also occur in the future. We should accelerate it with scientific facts, attempt to take precautions against natural disasters, and learn to live with the reality of earthquakes. The damages of disaster can be minimized by increasing the natural disaster awareness of people. In the process of writing this paper, the earthquakes that took place in Kahramanmaraş in Turkey on February 6, 2023, also revealed painful results and went down in history as a disaster demonstrating that the necessary precautions had not been taken against the earthquake.  Nevertheless, we should not forget that we can create a good future for ourselves with scientific measures by looking at the future with hope. The present study tried to ensure that secondary school students conduct an oral history study with earthquake victims, acquire the awareness of natural disasters, and have experiences at the level of access to information. Oral history studies were performed with earthquake victims living in Sakarya province using a semi-structured interview form. As a result of the study, students gained positive acquisitions about what earthquake victims did at the time of the earthquake, how the problems were solved after the earthquake, and what the mutual aid activities were.