The Yalova Earthquake Monument ( tr, Yalova Deprem Anıtı), aka 17 August 1999 Earthquake Monument ( tr, 17 Ağustos 1999 Deprem Anıtı), is a monument to commemorate the victims of the

1999 İzmit earthquake On the 17th of August, 1999 at 3:01 AM local time, a catastrophic magnitude 7.6 earthquake struck the Kocaeli Province of Turkey, causing monumental damage and 17,127–18,373 deaths. Named for the quakes proximity to the northeastern city of Izm ...

Yalova Yalova is a market-gardening town located in northwestern Turkey on the eastern coast of the Sea of Marmara. The town has a population of 156,838, while the population of the surrounding Yalova Province is 291,001 . A largely modern town, it is ...

, Turkey. Situated in the 17 August Memorial Park in Yalova, it was opened at the first anniversary of the earthquake on August 17, 2000.

Background

In the early hours of August 17, 1999, a powerful earthquake of

moment magnitude The moment magnitude scale (MMS; denoted explicitly with or Mw, and generally implied with use of a single M for magnitude) is a measure of an earthquake's magnitude ("size" or strength) based on its seismic moment. It was defined in a 1979 pape ...

7.4 hit the provinces

, Kocaeli and

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

in northwestern Turkey, causing the death of around 18,000 people. The extent of the earthquake's damage in Yalova is given officially by 2,508 people dead, and 13,939 heavily-damaged homes, which had to be demolished. According to unofficial estimates, the death toll is more. 15,237 buildings were damaged moderate and further 12, 878 in lesser degree.

Monument

Right after the earthquake, cleaning and rebuilding work began in Yalova, and the rubble of the collapsed buildings were dumped in the

Sea of Marmara The Sea of Marmara,; grc, Προποντίς, Προποντίδα, Propontís, Propontída also known as the Marmara Sea, is an inland sea located entirely within the borders of Turkey. It connects the Black Sea to the Aegean Sea via the ...

directly at its coast. With the completion of the cleanup efforts, the land reclaimed from the sea reached an area covering . On June 5, 2000, a

groundbreaking Groundbreaking, also known as cutting, sod-cutting, turning the first sod, or a sod-turning ceremony, is a traditional ceremony in many cultures that celebrates the first day of construction for a building or other project. Such ceremonies are o ...

ceremony was held for the building of a monument to commemorate the earthquake victims in Yalova. The monument was designed by the sculptor Ümit Öztürk. Situated in the newly established public park on the reclaimed land, the monument's opening took place in the presence of

Deputy Prime Minister A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to that of a vice president, ...

Mesut Yılmaz Ahmet Mesut Yılmaz () (6 November 1947 – 30 October 2020) was a Turkish politician. He was the leader of the Motherland Party ( tr, Anavatan Partisi, ANAP) from 1991 to 2002, and served three times as Prime Minister of Turkey. His first two p ...

and Minister of Labour and Social Security, Deputy of Yalova

Yaşar Okuyan Yaşar is a Turkish name and surname. It may refer to: *Yaşar (name), a Turkish given name and surname, including a list of people with the name *Yaşar University, a Turkish university in Izmir, Turkey *Yaşar, Şavşat, a village in the District ...

on August 17, 2000, the first anniversary of the disaster. The park, initially named "Yaşar Okuyan Park" by the city council of Yalova on June 1, 2000, was renamed to "17 August Park" upon the minister's personal request. The monument, which is in the middle of a small artificial hill, consists of piled marble blocks flanking a hallway and containing the names of around 3,000 earthquake victims. Next to each name, there is a tiny hole to hold a flower. The monument's hallway is paved with colorful

mosaic A mosaic is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and were particularly pop ...

figures, of which small stone pieces were made by the children in Yalova. There are also two halls on both sides of the monument's hallway exhibiting photographs taken after the earthquake.

Gallery

YalovaEarthquakeMonument.JPG , Marble block bearing the names of the victims and tiny holes next to each name to hold a flower YalovaEarthquakeMonument (10).JPG , Monument hallway YalovaEarthquakeMonument (7).JPG , Mosaics on the monument hallway YalovaEarthquakeMonument (5).JPG , Photograph exhibition at the monument

References

External links

{{commons category, Yalova Earthquake Monument Monuments and memorials in Turkey Tourist attractions in Yalova Buildings and structures in Yalova Buildings and structures completed in 2000 2000 establishments in Turkey