1999 Izmit, Turkey Earthquake

From Freepedia

The İzmit Earthquake with a magnitude of 7.4 killed over 17,000 in northwestern Turkey on 17 August 1999.

The earthquake had a rupture length of 150 kilometers (93 miles) from the city of Düzce to all the way into the Sea of Marmara along the Gulf of İzmit. Movement along the rupture was as large as 5.7 meters (18.7 ft). (Reilinger, et al., 2000)

This earthquake occurred in the North Anatolian Fault Zone (NAFZ). The Anatolian Plate which consists primarily of Turkey is being pushed west about 2-2.5 cm/yr (0.8-1.0 in), as it is squeezed between the Eurasian Plate on the north, and both the African Plate and the Arabian Plate on the south. Most of the large earthquakes result as slip occurs along the NAFZ or Eastern Anatolian Fault.

The official number of casualty is about 17,000 although real numbers are thought to be above 30,000. The rupture going through major cities that are among the most industrialized and urban areas of the country, including oil refineries, several car companies and navy headquarters increased the severity of the life and property loss.

Impacts

Impacts of the earthquake were vast: a few short-term impacts were:-

• Social
  • Army barracks collapsed.
  • An ice-skating rink and refrigerated lorries were used as mortuaries.
  • Disease - cholera, typhoid, dysentry.
  • Homelessness.
  • Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

A sample of 910 earthquake survivors living in a tent city showed that 25% of them met the DSM-IV criteria for PTSD. (Tural, et al., 2004)

• Environmental
  • Oil refinery leaks into water supply and Izmit Bay and catches fire.

Because of the leak and fire, the already highly polluted bay saw a 2 to 3-fold increase in Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) levels compared to 1984 samples. Dissolved oxygen and chlorophyll reached the lowest levels in 15 years. (Okay, et al., 2001)

• • 130 aftershocks in 2 hours.
  • Buildings collapsed (100000 apartments, 4000 buildings).
  • 2 tsunamis.
  • No electricity or water.
• Economic effects:-
  • Economic development set back 15 years.
  • Industrial areas damaged.
  • £10 billion (= $18 billion) damage.
  • Largest oil refinery damaged.

References

• Reilinger RE, Ergintav S, Burgmann R, McClusky S, Lenk O, Barka A, Gurkan O, Hearn L, Feigl KL, Cakmak R, Aktug B, Ozener H, Toksoz MN (2000). Coseismic and Postseismic Fault Slip for the 17 August 1999, M = 7.5, Izmit, Turkey Earthquake. Science 289 (5484): 1519-1524. PMID 10968782
• Okay OS, Tolun L, Telli-Karakoc F, Tufekci V, Tufekci H, Morkoc E (2001). Izmit Bay (Turkey) ecosystem after Marmara earthquake and subsequent refinery fire: the long-term data. Marine Pollution Bulletin 42 (5): 361-9. PMID 11436816
• Tural U, Coskun B, Onder E, Corapcioglu A, Yildiz M, Kesepara C, Karakaya I, Aydin M, Erol A, Torun F, Aybar G (2004). Psychological consequences of the 1999 earthquake in Turkey. Journal of Traumatic Stress 17 (6): 451-9. PMID 15730063