Part of the devastation left by the earthquake
Turkey earthquake
The earthquake destroyed 120,000 homes, displaced a quarter of a million people, and caused losses amounting to $6.5 billion.
In the past century, Turkey lived through many devastating earthquakes that flattened entire cities and caused a large number of deaths. And at the end of the twentieth century, the country lived in 1999 on the impact of the İzmit earthquake disaster, also known as the Marmara earthquake, which was classified as the second deadliest earthquake in the history of modern Turkey after the Arzinjan earthquake, which, with the very cold weather at the time, caused more than 100,000 victims. between dead and wounded.
A picture of buildings destroyed by the earthquake
intense seismic activity
The North Anatolian Fault, where the earthquake occurred in 1999, is a 1,200 km long fault zone that extends between Saros Bay and the Karlova Triple Junction.
According to geologists, this rift was formed millions of years ago (about 13 million years) in the eastern part of Anatolia and later headed towards the Sea of Marmara.
Because of this, this region is characterized by significant seismic activity and is classified as one of the most landslide-prone areas in the world.
Before the Azmid earthquake in 1999, this region witnessed in previous centuries many devastating earthquakes that caused large numbers of victims.
At around 3:00 am on August 17, 1999, the Turkish province of Kocaeli, of which Izmid was the capital, was shaken by a devastating earthquake measuring 7.4 on the Richter scale. This earthquake lasted for a period ranging between 35 and 45 seconds, devastating several cities such as Izmit, Gölcük, Yalova, and Adapazarı, in Sakarya Governorate, which is located near the northern end of the Sea of Marmara in the Gulf of Izmit.
A picture of a collapsed building due to the earthquake
Tens of thousands of dead and wounded
In addition, the impact of the earthquake reached the capital, Istanbul, and caused severe damage to it, especially in the Avcılar neighborhood, west of Istanbul, which was located about 70 km from the heart of the capital. In this neighborhood alone, about a thousand people died under the rubble of destroyed homes. On the other hand, the Izmid earthquake caused cracks in the ground that extended for tens of kilometers and swallowed many homes and cars. Also, Değirmendere, located west of Golcuk, witnessed landslides that resulted in the collapse and filling of an important section of the city center that included hotels and shops. On the other hand, the earthquake caused a massive fire at the Topraz oil refinery. It took five days to put out the fire, during which residents of the adjacent areas were evacuated.
Image from Encyclopedia Britannica of the 1999 earthquake site
According to an official Turkish report issued during the month of October 1999, the death toll from the earthquake was estimated at 17,127, while the number of injured was 43,953. In the same context, other unofficial sources suggested that the death toll from the Izmid earthquake was close to 45,000.
According to a report issued in September 1999, the number of destroyed houses was estimated at about 120,000, while the number of flattened buildings was about 20,000. This later led to the displacement of less than a quarter of a million people. On the other hand, the size of the main material losses was estimated at about $6.5 billion.
In the following period, the Turkish authorities prosecuted many construction institutions for adopting non-conforming building materials to construct buildings in these areas of significant seismic activity. Meanwhile, these legal proceedings resulted in the conviction of a few of the accused construction companies. On the other hand, a large number of residents of the affected areas pointed fingers at the Turkish authorities, accusing them of not observing safety standards in their areas.
