1999 İzmit earthquake: Difference between revisions
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Greece was the first nation to pledge aid and support to hard-stricken Turkey.<ref>[http://www.hri.org/news/greek/eraen/1999/99-08-18.eraen.html Greek and International Aid to Turkey]</ref> Within hours of the earthquake, the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs contacted their counterparts in Turkey, and the minister sent his |
Greece was the first nation to pledge aid and support to hard-stricken Turkey.<ref>[http://www.hri.org/news/greek/eraen/1999/99-08-18.eraen.html Greek and International Aid to Turkey]</ref> Within hours of the earthquake, the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs contacted their counterparts in Turkey, and the minister sent his cows to Turkey. The Greek Ministry of Public Order sent in a rescue team of 24 people and 2 trained rescue dogs, as well as fire extinguishing planes to help with putting out the fire in the TUPRAS Oil refinery. |
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The U.K announced an immediate grant of £50,000 to help the Turkish [[Red Crescent]], while the [[International Red Cross and Red Crescent]] pledged £4.5 million to help victims. Blankets, medical supplies and food were flown from [[London Stansted Airport|Stansted]] airport. Engineers from [[Thames]] Water went to help restore water supplies. India also assisted by providing 32,000 tents and 2 million rupees to help in the reconstruction process. |
The U.K announced an immediate grant of £50,000 to help the Turkish [[Red Crescent]], while the [[International Red Cross and Red Crescent]] pledged £4.5 million to help victims. Blankets, medical supplies and food were flown from [[London Stansted Airport|Stansted]] airport. Engineers from [[Thames]] Water went to help restore water supplies. India also assisted by providing 32,000 tents and 2 million rupees to help in the reconstruction process. |
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Revision as of 20:03, 26 November 2013
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| UTC time | ?? |
|---|---|
| Magnitude | 7.4 Mw [1] 7.5 Mw[2] |
| Depth | 17 km |
| Epicenter | 40.702ºN 29.987ºE [3] |
| Areas affected |  Turkey |
| Casualties | 17,127 dead, 43,953 injured (official Turkish estimate) |
The 1999 İzmit earthquake (also known as the Kocaeli or Gölcük earthquake) was a 7.4 magnitude earthquake that struck northwestern Turkey on 17 August 1999, at about 3:02am local time.[1] The event lasted for 37 seconds,[1] killing around 17 thousand people[4] and leaving approximately half a million people homeless. Even though official sources consider casualties 17,000 people, non-official sources consider the casualties 35,000 people. The nearby city of Izmit was very badly damaged.
Damage and casualties
An official Turkish estimate of October 19, 1999, placed the toll at 17,127 killed and 43,959 injured, but many sources suggest the actual figure may have been closer to 45,000 dead and a similar number injured.[4] Reports from September 1999 show that 120,000 poorly engineered houses were damaged beyond repair, 50,000 houses were heavily damaged, 2,000 other buildings collapsed and 4,000 other buildings were heavily damaged.[citation needed] 300,000 people were left homeless after the earthquake. The estimated amount of damage is equivalent to 23 billion dollars (USD)
The earthquake was heavily felt in this industrialized and densely populated urban area of the country, including oil refineries, several automotive plants, and the Turkish navy headquarters and arsenal in Gölcük, increasing the severity of the loss of life and property. The earthquake also caused considerable damage in Istanbul, about 70 kilometres (43 mi) away from the earthquake's epicenter.[5]
There was extensive damage to several bridges and other structures on the Trans-European Motorway (European route E80), including 20 viaducts, 5 tunnels, and some overpasses. Damage ranged from spalling concrete to total deck collapse.[6]
The quake sparked a disastrous fire at the Tüpraş petroleum refinery. The fire began at a state-owned tank farm and was initiated by naphtha that had sloshed out of a holding tank. Breakage in water pipelines, results of the quake, nullified attempts at extinguishing the fire. Aircraft were called in to douse the flames with foam. The fire spread over the next few days, warranting the evacuation of the area within three miles of the refinery. The fire was declared under control five days later after claiming at least seventeen tanks and untold amounts of complex piping.[7]
Geology
The Izmit earthquake had a rupture length of 150 kilometers (93 mi) extending from the city of Düzce all the way into the Sea of Marmara along the Gulf of İzmit. Offsets along the rupture were as large as 5.7 meters (18.7 ft).[8]
The earthquake occurred along the western portion of the North Anatolian Fault Zone (NAFZ). The Anatolian Plate, which consists primarily of Turkey, is being pushed west about 2–2.5 cm (0.8–1.0 in) a year, as it is squeezed between the Eurasian Plate to the north and the Arabian Plate to the south.[9] Major earthquakes in Turkey result mainly from slip along the NAFZ or the East Anatolian Fault.
The earthquake caused a tsunami in the Sea of Marmara that was about 2.5 meters high.[10]
Destruction in Istanbul was concentrated in the Avcılar district to the west of the city. Avcılar was built on relatively weak ground mainly composed of poorly consolidated Cenozoic sedimentary rocks, which makes this district vulnerable to any earthquake.[11]
International response
A massive international response was mounted to assist in digging for survivors and assisting the wounded and homeless. Rescue teams were dispatched within 24–48 hours of the disaster, and the assistance to the survivors was channeled through NGOs and the Red Crescent.
The following table shows the breakdown of rescue teams by country in the affected locations:
| Location | Search and Rescue Teams From: |
|---|---|
| Gölcük, Kocaeli | Hungary, Israel, France, South Korea |
| Yalova | Germany, Hungary, Israel, United Kingdom, France, Austria, Romania, South Korea |
| Avcılar, Istanbul | Germany, Greece |
| İzmit, Kocaeli | Russia, Hungary, France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, USA, Iceland, South Korea |
| Sakarya | Bulgaria, Germany, Spain, Egypt |
| Düzce | United Kingdom |
| Bayrampasa, Istanbul | Italy |
| Kartal, Istanbul | Azerbaijan |
Search and Rescue Effort as of August 19, 1999. Source: USAID[12]
In total, rescue teams from twelve countries assisted in the rescue effort.
The U.K announced an immediate grant of £50,000 to help the Turkish Red Crescent, while the International Red Cross and Red Crescent pledged £4.5 million to help victims. Blankets, medical supplies and food were flown from Stansted airport. Engineers from Thames Water went to help restore water supplies. India also assisted by providing 32,000 tents and 2 million rupees to help in the reconstruction process.
US President Bill Clinton[13] and Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif later visited Istanbul and İzmit to examine the level of destruction and meet with the survivors.
References
- ^ a b c NEIC Izmit earthquake page
- ^ http://www.koeri.boun.edu.tr/sismo/mudim/katalog.asp Turkish National Earthquake Research Station's Database
- ^ "17 August 1999 Kocaeli Earthquake". The European Association for Earthquake Engineering. Retrieved April 7, 2010.
- ^ a b Marza, Vasile I. (2004). "On the death toll of the 1999 Izmit (Turkey) major earthquake" (Document). ESC General Assembly Papers, Potsdam: European Seismological Commission.
{{cite document}}: Unknown parameter|accessdate=ignored (help); Unknown parameter|archivedate=ignored (help); Unknown parameter|archiveurl=ignored (help); Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (help); Unknown parameter|url=ignored (help) - ^ A. Barka, "The 17 August 1999 Izmit Earthquake", Science, 285 (17 September 1999), pp. 1858–1859.
- ^ Lusas software, "Seismic Assessment of the Mustafa Inan Viaduct"
- ^ Scawthorn, Eidinger, Schiff, ed. (2005). Fire Following Earthquake. Reston, VA: ASCE, NFPA. ISBN 9780784407394.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: editors list (link) - ^ Reilinger, R.E. (2000). "Coseismic and Postseismic Fault Slip for the 17 August 1999, M = 7.5, Izmit, Turkey Earthquake" (PDF). Science. 289: 1519–1524.
{{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) - ^ USGS (June 18, 2012). "Tectonic summary". Historic Earthquakes Magnitude 7.6 TURKEY 1999 August 17 00:01:39 UTC. Retrieved 2 February 2013.
- ^ National Geophysical Data Center. "Tsunami event". Retrieved 2 February 2013.
- ^ Ergin, M. (2004). "Site amplification at Avcılar, Istanbul" (PDF). Tectonophysics. 391.
{{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) - ^ Tang, Alex K. (2000). Izmit (Kocaeli), Turkey, earthquake of August 17, 1999 including Duzce Earthquake of November 12, 1999 Lifeline Performance. Technical Council of Lifeline Earthquake Engineering Monograph No. 17. Reston, VA : American Society of Civil Engineers, 2000. p. 259. ISBN 978-0-7844-0494-2. Retrieved 6 June 2010.
- ^ Bill Clinton visits İzmit,Turkey
External links
- Initial Geotechnical Observations of the August 17, 1999, Izmit Earthquake — National Information Service for Earthquake Engineering
- 1999 Izmit, Turkey Earthquake — United States Geological Survey