October 23, 2011 Eastern Turkey, M7.2 Earthquake
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October 23, 2011 Eastern Turkey, M7.2 Earthquake OVERVIEW On October 23, 2011 at 13:41:21 pm local time, a magnitude 7.2 earthquake struck eastern Turkey. The quake’s epicenter was near the city of Van close to the Iran border. One of the hardest hit area included Ercis, an eastern town of approximately 75,000. The Turkish Interior Minister reported that 80 multi-story buildings in Ercis collapsed including a dormitory. In Van province (population 1 million), the Turkish Disaster Emergency Administration’s current count is 2,262 collapsed buildings, 366 deaths and 1,301 injuries. Many other buildings also collapsed in the district of Celebibag, near Ercis, including student dormitories and hotels. SEISMICITY AND HISTORY The tectonics of Turkey is controlled by the interactions of the Arabian and African plates with the Anatolian and Eurasian plates. The North Anatolian Fault represents the boundary between the west-moving Anatolian Plate and the stable Eurasian Plate. Combined right lateral movement on the North Anatolian Fault and left lateral movement on the East Anatolian Fault, allows the Anatolian Plate to escape westward into the Aegean Sea in response to the northward movement of the Arabian Plate. According to the USGS, yesterday's earthquake epicenter was 16 km north-northeast of Van in eastern Turkey, which places it near the junction of the two Anatolian faults. Here, the tectonic activity is dominated by the Bitlis Suture Zone – a broad zone of compression caused by the collision of the Arabian and Eurasian plates. This earthquake is a reminder of the many deadly seismic events that Turkey has suffered in the recent past. The devastating Izmit (Kocaeli) Earthquake of 1999 (M 7.6) broke a section of the North Anatolian Fault to the west and killed 17,000 people, injured 50,000, and left 500,000 homeless. Approximately 70 km from Van, a M7.3 earthquake occurred on November 11, 1976 destroying several villages near the Turkey and Iran border and killing several thousand people. A M7.8 earthquake also struck Erzincan in 1939, killing an estimated 33,000 people. Top: Location of epicenter in eastern Turkey. Center: Collapsed building in village of Tabanli near city of Van. Bottom: Collapsed building in city of Van. Seismologists have reported that the current cycle of Turkish earthquakes on the North Anatolian fault have advanced the stress on the fault system, and concluded that there is a 32% chance in the next 10 years or a 62% chance in the next 30 years for a strong earthquake to strike Istanbul. EARTHQUAKE ENGINEERING AND BUILDING CODES There was no seismic requirement in the Turkish Building Codes until after the devastating 1939 Erzincan Earthquake. Following that event, the first seismic building code was published in 1940. There were many revisions to the code from 1944 to 1975, but they did not address many of the significant seismic problems with common Turkish construction of concrete and masonry. In 1975, there was limited reference made to address these problems. It was not until after the 1999 Izmit Earthquake that current state- of-the-art earthquake requirements became part of the Turkish Building Code. Although the 1999 Izmit Earthquake was a significant wake-up call, Turkey has large inventories of buildings that are susceptible to severe damage and collapse from strong earthquakes. As demonstrated by this event, thousands of buildings collapsed throughout the region. Many buildings were designed to outdated building codes or none at all. Most of these buildings and much of the construction throughout Turkey consists of non- ductile concrete frames with unreinforced masonry infill walls. This building type lacks proper detailing necessary to survive strong ground shaking. Seismic rehabilitation of existing buildings is the only way to prevent future disasters such as these. Structural Engineers today have the knowledge, skills and experience to reduce the building risk and protect the life-safety of people within them. For more information, contact: Tom Chan, Principal Chris Heaton, President Global Risk Consultants Global Risk Consultants [email protected] [email protected] .