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İstanbul among cities most threatened by earthquakes
Although no city in the world is completely immune to the risk of earthquakes, Akçığ said Turkey, one of the most active earthquake zones, experiences serious tectonic plate movement. “On the list of most threatened cities, İstanbul places second, and İzmir places third,” he said.
Turkey's most serious problem in the event of an earthquake is the collapse of buildings, the professor said. “Earthquakes damage buildings, but how? Japan is hit by magnitude 7.5 earthquakes, but nothing gets damaged. However, when a magnitude 6 earthquake hits Turkey, a lot of buildings fall. Earthquakes with a magnitude of 4.5 to 6.5 should not destroy anything, and they don't in Japan and the US,” he said.
Four more seismic monitoring stations to be opened in Kocaeli The Kocaeli Metropolitan Municipality will inaugurate four newly established seismic activity monitoring centers on the 10th anniversary of the 1999 İzmit earthquake, raising the number of such facilities in the city to 10. The new plants were established in the Gölcük Kavaklı, Kandıra, Karamürsel and Körfez districts of Kocaeli with the aim of monitoring seismic activity around the province and minimizing the damage of any possible earthquake. Earthquake commemoration activities will start at booths opened at the Yürüyüş Yolu (Walkway) between Aug. 14 and 15. Booths will also be opened in Gölcük Kavaklı on Aug. 16 and at Kocaeli University on Aug. 17-19 in order to inform the public about earthquakes. Books about the 1999 İzmit earthquake published by the municipality will be distributed for free at those booths. The official ceremony will kick off on Aug. 16 at 7.30 p.m. at Gölcük Kavaklı. The activities will include a welcome reception of cyclists at Gölcük, who started their tour in Erzincan, and a commemoration march of disabled people and members of the Neighborhood Disaster Support Project (MAG). Mehmet Güler Kocaeli |
Precautionary measures are a necessity in earthquake preparation. “I do not think municipalities are sufficiently informed on the issue. You cannot understand pain if you don't experience it, but the earthquake that took place on Aug. 17 [1999] was exceptional. I always term it a turning point. The number of those killed exceeded 15,000 and the country lost a lot of educated people. We were unprepared. Now there are movements which are led by the public and by universities, but I do not see any mass mobilization. There remain buildings to be repaired and reinforced and schools that are from time to time evacuated,” he said.
A total of 82,372 people have died in the 90 major earthquakes that have rocked Turkey since 1900, the year when earthquake strength began to be recorded. The strongest of these earthquakes was a magnitude 7.9.
Even though 90 percent of the country falls within an earthquake zone and the largest cities lie near fault lines, serious work to prepare for earthquakes only began after the 1999 Marmara earthquake.
According to data compiled by Boğaziçi University's Kandilli Observatory and Earthquake Research Institute, the most devastating earthquake of the past century in Turkey was the one that hit Erzincan on Dec. 26, 1939. A total of 32,962 people died in that earthquake; victims could not be reached until two days after the initial tremor. The tragedy forced Turkey to face its earthquake reality, and precautions against earthquakes were discussed for the first time in the country. Yet, no serious improvements were made.
Turkey has been rocked by several other earthquakes measuring up to magnitude 7.2 since Erzincan, but its last major earthquake was the 1999 Marmara quake, which officially claimed 17,480 lives and left thousands homeless.
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