Fear has engulfed the residents of Germencik district located in Aydın, Turkey as deep cracks keep forming up in the ground, stretching for a kilometer (0.6 miles) with depths reaching 2 meters (6.5 feet).
The original cracks appeared 11 days ago in the Hıdırbeyli, Mursallı and Ömerbeyli neighborhoods of Germencik following a downpour over the weekend. Similar cracks have also been detected in the Alangüllü neighborhood recently.
Germencik Nature and Environment Association President Halil Çetinkaya said, "Cracks have started to form all over Germencik. We fear that the cracks will reach the district center."
Unsettled by the fact that the danger might be growing, Çetinkaya expressed that they are afraid of cracks turning into sinkholes.
Claiming that the cracks were caused by the activities of the geothermal power plants in the area and adding that wild agricultural irrigation also had a role to play, Çetinkaya said, "We receive reports from everywhere. But unfortunately, no study is being carried out on the subject. We have been dealing with the cracks in the district for 10 days. There will be inevitable consequences from now on. This is because 16 geothermal power plants and nearly 150 boreholes located in Germencik drain the groundwater. We predicted larger sinkholes to form."
Stating that they want a research commission to be established, Çetinkaya said, "In our region, agricultural irrigation is carried out only for 3 months a year. There is no irrigation for 9 months. If precautions are not in place, we will encounter larger cracks in the land. If the cracks reach the city center, it will not be enough to sustain the weight of the buildings, resulting in loss of life and property."
Ismail Kavracı (65), who had cracks in his land, said, "I bought my 26-decare land 23 years ago. Although similar cracks were formed on my land before, they were not as deep." Stating that this year has seen a rise in the number of cracks, he stated that he doesn’t know if they had been caused by drought or something else. "Hopefully, it won't happen again," he said.
The Dora-1 geothermal power plant, with an 8.5-megawatt (MW) capacity, is also located in the Germencik district.
Turkey has been on a quest to increase the share of domestic and renewable resources, particularly in power generation in recent years. It has managed to exponentially expand its renewable capacity, capitalizing on the vast resources of solar, wind and geothermal power.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said in January that Turkey ranks fourth in terms of electricity production capacity from geothermal resources.
Turkey's capacity to produce electricity from geothermal resources has reached 1,650 MW as of last year, according to Geothermal Energy Association (JED) head, Ali Kındap.