Journalist Ismail Kahraman, founder of Kocaeli's first and only private research library, has set up an exhibit focused on deadly earthquakes around the world. The exhibition features books, photographs and newspapers focused on major tremors from the past to the present.

Kahraman, residing in Gebze, decided to organize the special exhibition during Library Week, celebrated between March 27-April 2.

The collection includes books with information about the earthquakes that took place in Istanbul in the 1800s, photographs of earthquakes that struck around the world and newspapers with more than 500 earthquake-related headlines.

Explaining that he witnessed the Marmara earthquake of Aug. 17, 1999. Kahraman said: "Our country was shaken by a massive earthquake disaster. I went to many earthquake regions, with the most recent in the Hatay. I am offering the reality of earthquakes to researchers with a photo exhibition. We also have a book that contains the photographic and newspaper archives of the earthquake that occurred in Istanbul in the 1800s."

Photo archives

Stating that he continues to collect documents related to earthquake disasters, Kahraman said: "Recently, I collected newspapers and photographs of all national, regional and international media for about a month after the earthquake on Feb. 6. and compiled them a book. There are more than 10,000 books in our library. This library is a rich source of information for academics and research students."

Stating that lessons should be learned from earthquakes, Kahraman said: "We are in a country on fault lines. I believe that lessons should be learned from the quakes and that we should have information about the past."

Using the Aug. 17, 1999 Marmara earthquake as an example, he said: "The earthquake hit when I was on the seventh floor and I will never forget that night. A big beam of light rose from the Gulf. It was as if hundreds of cranes were working under the ground. We immediately went outside and waited for hours, helplessly witnessing the disaster. That was the day I started collecting the sources as a lesson for future generations," he said.

Mentioning the number of newspapers he collected, Kahraman said: "There are more than 500 copies of newspapers from the old period in my library. We have also collected documents about later earthquakes. History is not just about the past. History is a mirror of a nation. It is necessary to have information and documents to not forget the past. Let's transfer the documents to the next generations in the best way so that precautions can be taken against future disasters."