The İzmit earthquake happened on August 17, 1999; at about 3.01a.m. local time. This earthquake struck northwestern Turkey (Canakkale Province), western portion of the North Anatolian Fault Zone (NAFZ), but also caused considerable damage to Istanbul, which is about 70 km away from the earthquake’s epicenter.
The Anatolian Plate (which consists mainly of Turkey) is being pushed to the west about 2 to 2.5cm a year. The Anatolian plate and the Eurasian plate slid past each other, causing the earthquake. The damages that occurred during the earthquake were also the result of a long surface rupture on the NAFZ.
The İzmit earthquake has a 7.4 magnitude, which is one of the greatest magnitudes of earthquakes that Turkey has experienced.
There were 17,127 fatalities and 43,959 casualties from this earthquake. Electricity was cut off for the first two days after the earthquake happened. Reports have shown that 122, 000 poorly engineered houses have collapsed or damaged beyond repair and 54, 000 houses were severely damaged. Other damaged properties include oil refineries, several oil automotive plants and the Turkish navy headquarters and arsenal in Golcuk. This earthquake cost more than $20 billion in damage.
The Turkey government, in response to this earthquake, sent teams to rescue the survivors. They also sent engineers to evaluate the damages and to think of how the buildings’ structures can be improved. They also requested its Ministry of Environment to develop a national emergency response centre to develop an integrated response to potential natural disasters.
In my opinion, to minimize damages from such events, the Turkey government should educate the public about on to improve the structures of their houses so that they can withstand the earthquake. They should also invest more money in improving the quality of materials used in constructing buildings.
(Word count: 297)
References:
Website: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1999_Izmit_earthquake , extracted 28-01-10
Video:
scal6789
The 1999 Izmit Earthquake
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQJcEt5JPzU
posted @ 9:56 PM |