Many such challenges emerged in the earthquake-affected area of southeastern Turkey in early February 2023, when two major earthquakes of magnitude 7.8 and 7.5 struck a densely populated and built-up area comprising 11 provinces with many large urban centers such as large cities and towns and extensive rural areas with countless villages (Figure 1). The synergy of the strong ground motion [11] combined with the generation of extensive primary effects, such asoseismic surface ruptures, and the triggering of secondary effects, including liquefaction and landslides among others [12,13], resulted in tens of thousands of buildings with heavy and very heavy structural damage including total or partial collapse and large parts of residential areas being flattened [12,14,15]. In addition, several infrastructures and in particular parts of the road network were damaged. This impact on the built environment created a volume of debris that is difficult to manage even in organized countries. The motivation for conducting this research came from the 6 February 2023 earthquakes that struck East Anatolia and the several examples of earthquake debris management we identified during our field surveys conducted in the earthquake-affected area of southeastern Turkey. We followed the debris management unfold in the Hatay, Kahramanmars, Gaziantep, and Adiyaman provinces, which are among the most affected provinces of East Anatolia. The scope of the study includes the analysis of the approaches applied for debris disposal in southeastern Turkey after the 6 February 2023 earthquakes for the identification of correct and incorrect responses. Furthermore, it includes the identification of the factors with a high potential for adverse effects on the natural environment and public health in earthquake debris disposal sites detected in southeastern Turkey as well as the proposal of risk mitigation strategies for reducing the associated risks for all involved in debris  
Figure 1: The epicenters of the 6 February 2023 earthquakes along the East Anatolian Fault Zone (EAFZ) based on the United States Geological Survey (USGS) [9,10]. The Mw = 7.8 was generated in the main strand of the EAFZ (MSEAFZ) and the Mw = 7.5 earthquake in the northern strand of the EAFZ (NSEAFZ). 11 provinces were affected by the earthquakes with their largest cities heavily affected by the earthquake ground motion and related primary and secondary effects resulting in tens of thousands of fatalities. management and for the significant elements of the natural environment observed in the studied areas. The principal aim of this research is for the scientists, the operational staff, and the affected residents in Turkey to become aware of the errors and omissions in debris management and to acquire the knowledge to implement measures to deal with and mitigate the potential adverse effects on the public health and the natural environment of East Anatolia. Furthermore, it aims to highlight the good and bad practices (correct and incorrect responses) applied by all involved in debris management during the recovery period and the threats posed to public health and the natural environment in order to be avoided in future destructive events. Particular reference to the seismic hazard and the impact of the 6 February 2023 earthquakes on the built environment of East Anatolia and to earthquake debris disposal sites in the earthquake-affected area will be made in the following sections. In addition, this research provides a review of the risks that emerge from the early stages of debris removal, when workers operate in disaster-affected areas up to the final stages of storage, sorting, and disposal. In addition, emphasis will be placed on the environmental risks posed in the frame of this recovery action by the uncontrolled debris disposal in areas that are particularly sensitive and vulnerable to hazardous substances and materials contained in the debris.