Turkey Earthquake - Case Study

Izmit Turkey Earthquake – Also known as the Koccaeli, Turkey Earthquake With short comparison to Loma Prieta Earthquake 1989 Location • Marmara region- Most industrialized zone • Northwest Turkey – 1/3 of Turkey’s total population • North Anatolian Fault (strike skip) – similar to san adreas • Hits main cities Izmit, Adapazar and Istanbul • 3:01 am local time – August 17, 1999 • Epicenter 11km outside Izmit – 300,000 people live here founded in ancient times • Anatolian fault system • Epicenter 90km east of Istanbul across the sea of Maramara • Felt as far as Ankara (320 km. away) • Depth of 17km (shallow) • Latitude 41.81degrees N Longitude 30.08degrees east • Lasted 37seconds San Francisco • Bay area • Oct. 17, 1989 • 56miles from san fran • 10 miles from santa cruz • Sacramento 100 miles away Magnitude • 7.4 on Richter scale San Francisco • 5.2 aftershock • 7.1 on richter scale • Intensity IX Human impacts • 10,901 workplaces collapsed or damaged; 9927 workplaces moderately damaged; 9712 slightly damaged • 16,000 people killed – thousands more injured (gov’t) • Death toll btwn. 15,000 and 40,000 • UN estimated death toll around 30,000 • People leave earthquake zone to live elsewhere as high as 28% • Loss of morale • Collapse of buildings caused most of the deaths – more deaths than other comparable earthquakes 20,000 six-eight story buildings collapsed – did not meet building codes or built knowingly on faults • UN said 40,000 deaths, but gov’t said only 15,000 some say its because don’t want to be known for such poor response to emergency • Hit Adapazari = no power for several days

• 1 million people potentially homeless • Telephone communication had broken down San Francisco • Section of San fran – Oakland bay bridge collapses • Interstate 280 sections of freeway slam into eachotehr and crack, columns fracture • Six people died when a brick building collapses in market district • No power until oct. 20 (total: 3 days) • Killed 63 people • Injured 3757 • 12,000 people homeless Economic Consequences • Damage $6bil-$13bil • 1.5% of national output lost as a result – Turkish treasury Undersecretary -Selcuk Demiralp • Hinders growth • Hits shipping, automotive, petroleum, manufacturing hubs (Izmit and Adapazar) • Hits Istanbul – 35% of country’s economic production • Loss of manpower • Insurance providers had to take out loans • Tourism hit badly • Tupras oil refinery hit badly - 1/3 of the nation’s oil. San Francisco • Almost $3 bil. In damages • Approx. ½ of total damage for whole earthquake zone • $6 bil in property damage Human Responses • Prime Ministry Crisis Centre – set up after quake to coordinate rescue and relief o Criticized for being in its own crisis • 1999 budget – no provisions for dealing with disaster – costs cannot be absorbed through an additional budget • Want to introduce earthquake tax – but has narrow tax base with many tax evaders • Largest ever emergency aid loan for turkey from IMF suggested - $490 billion $4 billion so far has been received • World bank sets aside $1 billion = to build health centers and schools as well as reconstruction of infrastructure • Minsitry of Public Works and Settlements - 550 people to asses damage 1,931 construction machines and 3,295 people to affected area. • Wireless systems set up in tent cities to communicate info • Transportation routs operational • Aid aircrafts have places to land

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7 tent cities built for homeless- public facilities - 42366 beds- dedicated for homeless • Guardianship capacity of 34,520 identified for children with lost parents • No pharmaceutical shortage • Rescue operations delayed because of lack of communications and damage to major highway connecting Istanbul to Ankara • Other roads blocked by people leaving San Francisco • Approx. ½ of total damage for whole earthquake zone • Fire in 9-1-1 telephone room so service is sporadic • Citizens form bucket brigade to help fire fighters • Fire fighters pull people from burning buildings • Geographic results • Vertical offsets of 2.5m (8 feet) • Flooding • Tupras oil refinery fire for 5 ½ days • people observed ball of flame and sound of explosion in gulf area during quake San Francisco • 27 fires • Apartment buildings in marina district sink into a lagoon • Shaking causes freeway along waterfront to almost be destroyed • 4foot tsunami wave in Monterey bay • Undersea landslide - sea level at sant cruz dropped 3 ft. • Liquefaction (evidence: snad boils, lateral spreading, settling, slumping) as far as 110 from epicenter • More than 1,000 landslides and rockfalls in santa cruz mountains Future outlook • IMF thinks can recover if sticks to recommendations • Reconstruction contracts given to contractors locals blame for building unsturdy apartments in the first place (only 17% of buildings in earthquake area are structurally sound) Other - another earthquake hits in 1999 (Nov.) killing more than 700 people - many dead crabs and jellyfish 2 days before earthquake – due to release of methane gas or radon gas in the sea - 7th in sequence moving west along fault – caused 1000 km rupture first occurred in 1939

Works Consulted Copyright International Communications Nov 1999 Gorvett, Jon. "Turkey counts the cost." Middle East. 01 Nov 1999. 36. eLibrary. Proquest CSA. PORT MOODY SECONDARY SCHOOL. 23 Sep 2008. . "Earthquake Kills More Than 15,000 in Turkey, August 17, 1999." Historic World Events. Detroit: Gale, 2004. Student Resource Center - Gold. Gale. Port Moody Secondary. 22 Sep. 2008 .

Sancio, Rodolfo B. (Sept. 3, 1999) Initial geotechnical observations of the August 17, 1999 Izmit Earthquake. Retrieved September 28, 2008 from http://nisee.berkeley.edu/turkey/report.html

Implications for Earthquake Risk Reduction in the United States from the Kocaeli, Turkey, Earthquake of August 17, 1999, U.S. Geol. Surv. Circular 1193 (64 p.), 2000. http://pubs.usgs.gov/circ/2000/c1193/

Copyright 1992 by MAGELLAN Geographix, Santa Barbara, California Retrieved on September 29, 2008 from http://earthquake.usgs.gov/research/geology/turkey/images.php

Retrieved on September 29, 2008 from http://earthquake.usgs.gov/research/geology/turkey/images.php

http://nisee.berkeley.edu/turkey/report.html In this photo there is a well built building standing next to one that was not able to withstand the shaking of the earthquake

http://nisee.berkeley.edu/turkey/report.html southern shore of Lake Sapanca http://nisee.berkeley.edu/turkey/report.html

San Francisco 1989 Sfmuseum.org (2007) San Francisco Earthquake History 1915-1989. Retrieved October 5, 2008 from Stover, Carl W & Coffman, Jerry L. (1993) Santa Cruz Mountains (Loma Prieta), California. Retrieved October 5, 2008 from