## 3 Current Situation Post-Kahramanmaras Earthquakes
### Elbistan Region, Kalramanmaras  
The Elbistan region, which was the center of the second earthquake, was one of the regions most damaged by the earthquake. Elbistan is a district of Kahramanmaras province. The population of all its districts, including the towns and villages, is 142 778 [34]. Its area is 2547 km\({}^{2}\) (983 m\({}^{2}\)). It is located at 38\({}^{\circ}\)12\({}^{\prime}\)1\" north, 37\({}^{\circ}\)11\({}^{\prime}\)35\" east, latitude: 38.2004, and longitude: 37.1931 (Figure 4). Elbistan, one of the biggest districts in Turkey, is heavily populated and characterized by significant industrialization and agricultural land. Since ancient times, Elbistan has experienced earthquakes, with the region needing to be re-established several times because of them. As already noted, the 2023 Elbistan earthquake saw a great loss of life in the region. Many earthquake investigations in the literature have provided general observations about the damage that this earthquake inflicted on the region. It has been suggested that the quality of construction materials was a fundamental factor contributing to damage in the region, and this therefore needs to be scrutinized in more detail. Figure 3: Damage status of buildings in 11 provinces after the earthquake [19]. Post-earthquake, the Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change assigned technical teams consisting of municipal officials and university professors to the earthquake-affected regions in order to carry out damage assessment studies. In these examinations, buildings were categorized as ruined, heavily damaged, moderately damaged, slightly damaged, and undamaged. Heavily Damaged Buildings: These were buildings in which there were wide and widespread shear breaks/separations in the load-bearing elements of the building due to the earthquake. \"Heavily\" damaged structures were defined as buildings with an irreparable loss of bearing capacity and irreversible (with respect to strength and economy) damage. Moderately Damaged Buildings: These were buildings with cracks in their walls and thin cracks in their load-bearing elements due to the earthquake. The damage and defects in such buildings that occurred before the earthquake were not evaluated. In a \"moderately\" damaged building, the structure should not be used until its decrease in bearing capacity is addressed (the structure is repaired) or it is strengthened. Items from such buildings can be removed. Less Damaged Buildings: These were buildings with thin cracks in their paint, plaster, and walls, as well as plaster falling from their walls, due to the earthquake. The damage and defects in such buildings that occurred before the earthquake were not evaluated. There is no harm in using these buildings. Undamaged Buildings: These were buildings that had not suffered any damage due to the earthquake. The damage and defects in such buildings that occurred before the earthquake were not considered. There is no harm in using these buildings [36]. After the carrier system of each building was determined, the information that characterized the building was processed into the system, and the observations made with photographs were documented. The processing was mainly observational. Adhering to the data gathered by the ministry, the current state of the buildings in the study region can be determined. In this study, we carried out damage mapping based on these data. The most damaged areas in Elbistan were determined according to their building damage status (Table 1). Further, buildings from different regions were selected and re-examined. The damage situation is indicated in a circle to show more detail. Figure 4: Elbistan region [35]. According to the data from the Ministry of Environment and Urban Planning, 26,747 buildings were examined, and 1045 buildings were found to have been destroyed. A total of 2640 heavily damaged, 463 moderately damaged, 5733 slightly damaged, 14,261 undamaged, and 2675 out-of-assessment buildings were documented.