The 1970 Gediz earthquake (also known as the 1970 Kütahya-Gediz earthquake) struck western
Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...
on 28 March at about 23:02 local time, with an estimated magnitude of 7.2 on the scale.
The event killed 1,086 people, injured 1,260 people, and left many thousands homeless in
Gediz, a district of
Kütahya Province
Kütahya Province ( tr, ) is a province in the Aegean region of Turkey. It is 11,875 km in size, and the population is 571,554 (2014). In 1990, Kütahya had a population of 578,000.
The neighboring provinces are Bursa to the northwest, ...
situated southeast of
Kütahya
Kütahya () (historically, Cotyaeum or Kotyaion, Ancient Greek, Greek: Κοτύαιον) is a city in western Turkey which lies on the Porsuk River, Porsuk river, at 969 metres above sea level. It is inhabited by some 578,640 people (2022 estimate) ...
.
Many people were burned alive as fires broke out from overturned stoves, and 9,452 buildings in the region were severely damaged or destroyed.
The town of Gediz, home to repeated natural disasters like earthquakes and
flood
A flood is an overflow of water ( or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are an area of study of the discipline hydrol ...
s, was relocated following a government resolution soon after the destruction to a new place away on the road to
Uşak
Uşak (; el, Ουσάκειον, Ousakeion) is a city in the interior part of the Aegean Region of Turkey. The city has a population of 500,000 (2016 census) and is the capital of Uşak Province.
Uşak city is situated at a distance of from İ ...
under the name "Yeni Gediz" (literally: New Gediz). The residents moved in their newly built,
earthquake-resistant
Earthquake engineering is an Interdisciplinarity, interdisciplinary branch of engineering that designs and analyzes structures, such as buildings and bridges, with earthquakes in mind. Its overall goal is to make such structures more resistant to ...
homes. Neighboring towns and villages were also rebuilt at places with relative minimum
earthquake risk.
Other major earthquakes occurred in Gediz in 1866 and 1896, and on June 25, 1944, at 07:20 local time, a magnitude 6.0 earthquake occurred in Gediz, killing 20 people and damaging around 3,500 buildings.
See also
*
List of earthquakes in 1970
This is a list of earthquakes in 1970. Only magnitude 6.0 or greater earthquakes appear on the list. Lower magnitude events are included if they have caused death, injury or damage. Events which occurred in remote areas will be excluded from the ...
*
List of earthquakes in Turkey
This is a list of earthquakes in Turkey, including any notable historical earthquakes that have epicenters within the current boundaries of Turkey, or which caused significant effects in this area. Overall, the population in major cities like Ist ...
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Gediz 1970
1970 Gediz
1970 in Turkey
1970 earthquakes
History of Kütahya Province
March 1970 events in Europe
1970 disasters in Turkey