A Quebec family experienced the Izmir earthquake from the front row.
Established in Izmir for the past ten years, where he runs the professional club in Division Pro A in addition to his duties as head coach of the Canadian men’s volleyball team, Glenn Hoag was at the training site of the team, which was spared, but his eldest son Christopher was treated to quite a scare.
AFP Photo
Rescuers are looking for survivors in the rubble following the earthquake that rocked Turkey last Friday.
Participating in a training session at the Atatürk Sports Hall, Christopher had to leave at full speed when the magnitude 7 Richter scale earthquake struck downtown Izmir last Friday. The earthquake left 112 dead and more than 1,000 injured, 137 of whom are still hospitalized, according to a report released Tuesday.
“In the gym there is a huge scoreboard for the times and the scoring, and he was waltzing side to side like he was two pounds,” said Christopher. When I saw this looking at the ceiling, I was scared. The lamps were exploding on the ceiling and the noise was deafening. It looked like a yoyo walking around. We ran outside to find that the windows of the buildings had exploded. After the big shake, there were five small ones. Under these circumstances, there is a great risk that the buildings weakened by the big shock will collapse.
“It’s quite common earthquakes in Turkey, but this one scared me and made me feel very small in front of the forces of nature, to pursue the volleyball player who plays with the Pro B team of his father’s club. I’ve lived here for six years and there was an earthquake every year, but it was limited to 4 on the Richter scale. It was very long. In 45 seconds, we had time to think. We were lucky to be in a fairly new building. Very close to our gymnasium, several old buildings that did not meet seismic prevention standards were destroyed. “
The deadliest in ten years
The earthquake is the deadliest to occur in Turkey in ten years. A total of 44 tremors of magnitude greater than 4 on the Richter scale were observed after the initial rumble.
For his part, the father was at the training site of the Pro A team at Arkas Sport at the time of the earthquake. “I felt the 50-second shake, but nothing fell, said the man who will lead the Canadian team again at the next Olympic Games in Tokyo, in 2021. In my head, it was not a big one. earthquake, but the city center is badly affected. The biggest damage occurred in an area where people were not supposed to live because the buildings did not comply with earthquake prevention rules. It is an area where people are not fortunate and the government has let them settle. There is a lot of corruption and the rules are more or less observed.
“The more the days go by, the harder it is to find survivors,” added the veteran coach and former professional player. On Tuesday, they found two small children under the debris who were still alive. They also found the father, but they still hadn’t managed to get him out of the debris. As for the mother, she was still missing and the couple’s third child has died. The buildings are so crushed. The rules for seismic prevention were established in 1999 when a powerful earthquake struck the capital, Istanbul, and killed more than 17,000 people. A member of the Canadian team, striker Nicolas Hoag plays in Istanbul, but the capital was not affected this time around. Nicolas and Glenn’s teams occupy the top two ranks of the Turkish League, which resumed activities at the end of August. Turkish champions, the Izmir squad will take part in a first Champions League tournament in December in Tours, France, in a modified format due to the pandemic.
Shaken players
If Glenn and his wife Donna were not affected by the earthquake, some players are having difficulty with the situation. “Two of our players, including Canadian passer Jay Blankenau, live downtown and they’ve left their apartment for a few nights. They are still shaken. They were stunned in practice on Tuesday night, and they have the feeling that things are turning. One of the young players on the team who comes from a poor family saw the building of a neighboring family collapse. “
At the head of the France team, Hoag had experienced a major earthquake in 2003 during the World Cup in Japan. “I was on the 12th floor and the building had walked around quite a bit. When I went downstairs, it was as if nothing had happened. Japan is used to earthquakes and has high safety standards for the construction of buildings. “