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An earthquake of moment magnitude 7.6 struck
Kocaeli Province Kocaeli Province (, ) is a Provinces of Turkey, province and Metropolitan municipalities in Turkey, metropolitan municipality of Turkey and one of only three not to have the same official name as its capital, İzmit, which is thus also sometim ...
, Turkey on 17 August 1999. According to official figures, at least 18,373 people died and 48,901 people were injured during the earthquake, and 5,840 people were missing. At least 155 deaths were associated with the
tsunami A tsunami ( ; from , ) is a series of waves in a water body caused by the displacement of a large volume of water, generally in an ocean or a large lake. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and underwater explosions (including detonations, ...
. The damage was estimated at between $12 billion and $20 billion (in 1999 U.S. dollars) according to various sources such as the
World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and Grant (money), grants to the governments of Least developed countries, low- and Developing country, middle-income countries for the purposes of economic development ...
. The earthquake was named for the epicenter's proximity to the northwestern city of
İzmit İzmit () is a municipality and the capital Districts of Turkey, district of Kocaeli Province, Turkey. Its area is 480 km2, and its population is 376,056 (2022). The capital of Kocaeli Province, it is located at the Gulf of İzmit in the Sea ...
. It occurred at 03:01 local time (00:01 UTC) at a shallow depth of . A maximum Mercalli intensity of X (''Extreme'') was observed. The earthquake lasted for 37 seconds, causing seismic damage, and is widely remembered as one of the deadliest natural disasters in modern Turkish history. The 1999 earthquake was part of a seismic sequence along the
North Anatolian Fault The North Anatolian Fault (NAF; ) is an active right-lateral strike-slip fault in northern Anatolia, and is the transform boundary between the Eurasian plate and the Anatolian sub-plate. The fault extends westward from a junction with the Ea ...
that started in
1939 This year also marks the start of the World War II, Second World War, the largest and deadliest conflict in human history. Events Events related to World War II have a "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 ** Coming into effect in Nazi Ger ...
, causing large earthquakes that moved progressively from east to west over a period of 60 years. The earthquake encouraged the establishment of a so-called earthquake tax aimed at providing assistance to those affected by the earthquake, and the creation of National Disaster Insurance Institution for providing compulsory
earthquake insurance Earthquake insurance is a form of property insurance that pays the policyholder in the event of an earthquake that causes damage to the property. Most ordinary homeowners insurance policies do not cover earthquake damage. Most earthquake insuran ...
.


Tectonic setting

The North Anatolian Fault Zone (NAFZ), where the earthquake occurred, is a right-lateral
strike-slip In geology, a fault is a planar fracture or discontinuity in a volume of rock across which there has been significant displacement as a result of rock-mass movements. Large faults within Earth's crust result from the action of plate tectonic ...
fault zone. It extends from the Gulf of Saros to Karlıova. It formed around 13–11 million years ago in the eastern part of
Anatolia Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...
and developed westwards. The fault eventually developed at the
Marmara Sea The Sea of Marmara, also known as the Sea of Marmora or the Marmara Sea, is a small inland sea entirely within the borders of Turkey. It links the Black Sea and the Aegean Sea via the Bosporus and Dardanelles straits, separating Turkey's E ...
around 200,000 years ago despite the shear-related movement in a rather broad zone which had already started in late
Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first epoch (geology), geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and mea ...
. The fault zone is seismically active and has a diverse
geomorphological Geomorphology () is the scientific study of the origin and evolution of topography, topographic and bathymetry, bathymetric features generated by physical, chemical or biological processes operating at or near Earth#Surface, Earth's surface. Ge ...
structure. It produced a series of earthquakes as large as 8.0 on the moment magnitude scale. Since the 17th century, it has shown cyclical behavior, with century-long large earthquake cycles beginning in the east and continuing westward. Although the record is less clear for earlier times, active seismicity was likely to have occurred. The 20th century earthquake record has shown that the earthquakes concentrate the stress at the western tips of the ruptured areas, leading to westward migration of larger earthquakes. The İzmit and November 12, 1999 events increased stress on the Marmara segment of the fault. An earthquake of up to magnitude 7.6 event was expected between 2005 and 2055 with a probability of 50 percent on this segment. Presently, the deformation of rocks by stress in the Marmara Sea region is asymmetric. This is conditioned by the regional geology and is believed to be representative of most of the NAFZ.


Earthquake

The 17 August 1999 earthquake was the seventh in a sequence of westward-migrating seismic sequence along the NAFZ. This earthquake sequence began in
1939 This year also marks the start of the World War II, Second World War, the largest and deadliest conflict in human history. Events Events related to World War II have a "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 ** Coming into effect in Nazi Ger ...
and ruptured along a 1000-km part of the fault zone, with horizontal displacements of up to . The maximum observed ground motion was 0.45 '' g''. The earthquake lasted 35–45 seconds according to various sources. The closest cities affected were İzmit, Gölcük,
Yalova Yalova is a market-gardening town located in northwestern Turkey on the eastern coast of the Sea of Marmara. It is the seat of Yalova Province and Yalova District.Adapazarı Adapazarı () is a municipality and the capital Districts of Turkey, district of Sakarya Province, Turkey. Its area is 324 km2, and its population 281,489 (2022). It covers the central and northern part of the agglomeration of Adapazarı and t ...
, all of which are located near the eastern end of the Marmara Sea, within the Gulf of İzmit. The earthquake also caused serious damage in
Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...
, especially in the district of Avcılar which is located in the western part of the city, around away from the epicenter. Despite the distance, it killed about 1,000 people in the district. The earthquake caused a surface rupture comprising four segments; the Hersek/Karamürsel–Gölcük, İzmit– Lake Sapanca, Lake Sapanca–
Akyazı Akyazı is a municipality and district of Sakarya Province, Turkey. Its area is 628 km2, and its population is 94,494 (2022). The mayor is Bilal Soykan ( AKP). Composition There are 76 neighbourhoods in Akyazı District: * Akbalık * Alaa ...
, Akyazı– Gölyaka and Gölyaka–Düzce segments. These segments altogether measured over 125 km. All the segments are separated by pull-apart stepovers of in width. The maximum offset throughout the rupture was measured on the Sapanca–Akyazı segment where the surface break displaced a road and a tree line by . It also showed pure strike-slip, and the fault plane is almost vertical in most of the places where a surface break was observed. Most of the major aftershocks (M>4) were located near Düzce, south of Adapazarı, in Sapanca, in İzmit, and the
Çınarcık Çınarcık is a town in Yalova Province in the Marmara region of Turkey. It is the seat of Çınarcık District.
area. At Değirmendere, a small coastal town west of Gölcük, the rupture cut the edge of a fan delta where the center of the town was located, which caused a slump measuring long and wide. As a result, part of the town center slid under the water, including a hotel and several shops and restaurants. At another fan delta east of Gölcük, which is within the step-over area of the ruptures, the fault produced a 2 m-high normal fault scarp. Data was used from seven broadband stations as well as some other short-period stations across the area to calculate the regional
moment tensor Moment or Moments may refer to: Science * Moment (mathematics), a concept in probability theory and statistics * Moment (physics), a combination of a physical quantity and a distance ** Moment of force or torque Time * Present time * An instant * ...
of the mainshocks and larger aftershocks. As a result, most of the earthquakes were found to be split in segments, with the moment tensor's focal mechanism reading either a strike-slip on the fault which is west–east striking, or normal faulting which is between rupture segments. This also proves that the main characteristic of the quake is dextral strike-slip. From the timing of
P wave A P wave (primary wave or pressure wave) is one of the two main types of elastic body waves, called seismic waves in seismology. P waves travel faster than other seismic waves and hence are the first signal from an earthquake to arrive at any ...
and
S wave __NOTOC__ In seismology and other areas involving elastic waves, S waves, secondary waves, or shear waves (sometimes called elastic S waves) are a type of elastic wave and are one of the two main types of elastic body waves, so named because t ...
arrivals at
seismometer A seismometer is an instrument that responds to ground displacement and shaking such as caused by quakes, volcanic eruptions, and explosions. They are usually combined with a timing device and a recording device to form a seismograph. The out ...
s, there is strong evidence that the rupture propagated eastwards from the epicenter at speeds in excess of the S-wave velocity, making this a
supershear earthquake In seismology, a supershear earthquake is when the propagation of the Earthquake rupture, rupture along the Fault (geology), fault surface occurs at speeds in excess of the seismic S wave, shear wave (S wave) velocity. This causes an effect analo ...
.


Impact


Earthquake damage

Ten provinces were affected with deaths and collapsed buildings. An official Turkish estimate dated 19 October 1999 reported casualties of 17,127 killed and 43,953 injured, but many sources suggest the actual figure may have been closer to 45,000 dead and a similar number injured. Reports from September 1999 stated 127,251 buildings were damaged to varying extents and at least 60,434 others collapsed, while an
American Red Cross The American National Red Cross is a Nonprofit organization, nonprofit Humanitarianism, humanitarian organization that provides emergency assistance, disaster relief, and disaster preparedness education in the United States. Clara Barton founded ...
report from 2003 estimated that 320,000 homes and businesses were destroyed. More than 250,000 people became homeless. About of the Istanbul-Ankara highway, almost electricity cables and over 3,000 electricity distribution towers were damaged. Over 9,500 people were killed in
İzmit İzmit () is a municipality and the capital Districts of Turkey, district of Kocaeli Province, Turkey. Its area is 480 km2, and its population is 376,056 (2022). The capital of Kocaeli Province, it is located at the Gulf of İzmit in the Sea ...
. In Gölcük, at least 4,556 people died, 5,064 were injured, thousands more were left missing and at least 500 buildings collapsed, trapping about 20,000 families; overall, up to 80% of the city's buildings were damaged or destroyed. About 200 sailors went missing after a naval base collapsed. There was also destruction in
Yalova Yalova is a market-gardening town located in northwestern Turkey on the eastern coast of the Sea of Marmara. It is the seat of Yalova Province and Yalova District. The cause of most damage in Yalova was suspected to be
liquefaction In materials science, liquefaction is a process that generates a liquid from a solid or a gas or that generates a non-liquid phase which behaves in accordance with fluid dynamics. It occurs both naturally and artificially. As an example of t ...
-induced. Since the area mostly comprised
Quaternary The Quaternary ( ) is the current and most recent of the three periods of the Cenozoic Era in the geologic time scale of the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS), as well as the current and most recent of the twelve periods of the ...
alluvial Alluvium (, ) is loose clay, silt, sand, or gravel that has been deposited by running water in a stream bed, on a floodplain, in an alluvial fan or beach, or in similar settings. Alluvium is also sometimes called alluvial deposit. Alluvium is ...
soil, it was prone to liquefaction. The approximately 200 drilling sites and boreholes, and many streams and rivers, factored in the severe liquefaction. In
Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...
, at least 978 people were killed and 3,547 others sustained injuries. Severe damage in the city was concentrated in Avcılar district. Avcılar was built on relatively weak ground, mainly composed of poorly consolidated
Cenozoic The Cenozoic Era ( ; ) is Earth's current geological era, representing the last 66million years of Earth's history. It is characterized by the dominance of mammals, insects, birds and angiosperms (flowering plants). It is the latest of three g ...
sedimentary rock Sedimentary rocks are types of rock (geology), rock formed by the cementation (geology), cementation of sediments—i.e. particles made of minerals (geological detritus) or organic matter (biological detritus)—that have been accumulated or de ...
s, which made the district vulnerable to earthquakes. In
EskiÅŸehir EskiÅŸehir ( , ; from 'old' and 'city') is a city in northwestern Turkey and the capital of the EskiÅŸehir Province. The urban population of the city is 821 315 (Odunpazari + Tebebasi), with a metropolitan population of 921 630. The city is l ...
, there were 86 deaths and 70 buildings collapsed. At least 263 people died and 333 others were injured in
Bursa Bursa () is a city in northwestern Turkey and the administrative center of Bursa Province. The fourth-most populous city in Turkey and second-most populous in the Marmara Region, Bursa is one of the industrial centers of the country. Most of ...
. Three deaths and 26 injuries were reported in
Zonguldak Zonguldak () is a List of cities in Turkey, city of about 100 thousand people in the Black Sea region of Turkey. It is the seat of Zonguldak Province and Zonguldak District.Sakarya Province Sakarya () is a province and metropolitan municipality in Turkey, located on the coast of the Black Sea. Its area is , and its population is 1,080,080 (2022). The Sakarya River creates a webbing of estuaries in the province, which is in the Ma ...
. Private contractors faced backlash for using cheap materials in their construction of residential buildings. Many of these contractors were prosecuted but few were found guilty. Government officials also faced backlash for not properly enforcing earthquake resistant building codes. Direct cost of damage is estimated at US$6.5 billion, but secondary costs exceeded US$20 billion. In 2010, the research branch of the
Grand National Assembly of Turkey The Grand National Assembly of Turkey ( ), usually referred to simply as the GNAT or TBMM, also referred to as , in Turkish, is the Unicameralism, unicameral Turkey, Turkish legislature. It is the sole body given the legislative prerogatives by ...
stated there were 18,373 deaths as a result. In the same report, it stated there were 48,901 injured, 505 permanently injured, 96,796 homes heavily damaged or destroyed, 15,939 businesses heavily damaged or destroyed, 107,315 homes moderately damaged, 16,316 businesses moderately damaged, 113,382 homes slightly damaged, 14,657 businesses slightly damaged, 40,786 prefabricated homes distributed and 147,120 people rehoused into these homes.Riskinin Araştırılarak Deprem Yönetiminde Alınması Gereken Önlemlerin Belirlenmesi Amacıyla Kurulan Meclis Araştırması Komisyonu Raporu Temmuz 2010
/ref> There was extensive damage to several bridges and other structures on the Trans-European Motorway, including 20 viaducts, 5 tunnels, and several overpasses. Damage ranged from spalling concrete to total deck collapse.


Oil refinery fire

The earthquake triggered a fire at the Tüpraş petroleum refinery. The fire began at a state-owned tank farm and was initiated by
naphtha Naphtha (, recorded as less common or nonstandard in all dictionaries: ) is a flammable liquid hydrocarbon mixture. Generally, it is a fraction of crude oil, but it can also be produced from natural-gas condensates, petroleum distillates, and ...
that had spilled from a holding tank. Breakage in water pipelines and earthquake damage made firefighting attempts ineffective. Aircraft were called in to douse the flames with foam, but the fire spread for several days. An evacuation was warranted for an area within of the refinery. The fire was declared under control five days later after claiming at least 17 tanks and an unknown quantity of complex piping. People within of the refinery had to evacuate despite some areas still being in the process of search and rescue.


Tsunami

At least 155 deaths were associated with the tsunami. Many field studies were made about the tsunami in the Gulf of İzmit. Along the northern coast of the gulf, in the basin between Hereke and Tüpraş Petroleum Refinery, the tsunami was recorded as a leading depression wave. The run-up wave heights in this area ranged . The first series of waves arrived at the north coast a few minutes after the earthquake, and had a period of around a minute. The hardest hit areas were Şirinyalı, Kirazlıyalı, Yarımca, Körfez, and the refinery. The tsunami carried mussels into buildings, and damaged doors and windows. Körfez experienced flooding up to in some areas. Later, watermarks were seen on the walls of buildings, including the police station in Hereke, and at a restaurant near Körfez. Locals reported the first waves arrived at Kirazlıyalı from a southeastern direction, and at Körfez from a southern direction. Along the southern coast of the gulf between Değirmendere and Güzelyalı, run-up measured . The tsunami was recorded as a leading depression wave to the west of Kavaklı up to Güzelyalı. There, the wave was noticed by locals immediately after the earthquake. There was severe coastal subsidence and slumping of a park near Değirmendere. The subsided area was along the shore and perpendicular to shore. The same area included two piers, a hotel, a restaurant, a cafe and several trees. Locals at the coast near Değirmendere observed the sea receding by about in less than two minutes. When the sea came back, it swept inland up to , as shown by the mussels and dead fish left in the flooded areas. The tsunami also caused damage to the naval base nearby.


Aftershocks

A 5.2 aftershock occurred near
İzmit İzmit () is a municipality and the capital Districts of Turkey, district of Kocaeli Province, Turkey. Its area is 480 km2, and its population is 376,056 (2022). The capital of Kocaeli Province, it is located at the Gulf of İzmit in the Sea ...
on 31 August, causing one additional fatality and 166 injuries, with tremors being felt in
Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...
. Another 5.9 aftershock hit on 13 September, killing seven and injuring 422 people. Another aftershock measuring 5.2 occurred on 29 September, killing one person in
Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...
. A 5.0 aftershock on 7 November killed one person in
Sakarya Province Sakarya () is a province and metropolitan municipality in Turkey, located on the coast of the Black Sea. Its area is , and its population is 1,080,080 (2022). The Sakarya River creates a webbing of estuaries in the province, which is in the Ma ...
, while another 5.7 event on 11 November in the same province caused two deaths and 171 injuries. On 23 August 2000, a 5.3 earthquake caused 22 injuries in Sakarya. Another 5.0 aftershock was recorded on 26 August 2001, causing two injuries in
Bolu Bolu is a city in northern Turkey, and administrative center of the Bolu Province and of Bolu District, A massive international response was mounted to assist in digging for survivors and to assist 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, Turkish Red Crescent and local search and rescue organizations. The following table shows the breakdown of rescue teams by country in the affected locations: ''Search and Rescue Effort as of 19 August 1999. Source: USAID'' In total, teams from 21 countries (
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,
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,
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,
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,
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,
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,
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,
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,
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,
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,
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Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...
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Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...
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Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...
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), assisted in the rescue effort. Greece was the first nation to pledge aid and support. Within hours of the earthquake, the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs contacted their counterparts in Turkey, and the minister sent his personal envoys. The Greek Ministry of Public Orders sent a rescue team of 24 people and two trained rescue dogs, as well as fire-extinguishing planes to help put out the fire in the Tüpraş Oil refinery. Oil Spill Response Limited was activated by BP and deployed from the United Kingdom to the Tüpraş Refinery. Responders successfully contained the previously uncontrolled discharge of oil from the site into the sea. The UK announced an immediate grant of £50,000 to help the Turkish
Red Crescent The organized International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a humanitarian movement with approximately 16million volunteers, members, and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure respect for all human ...
, 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 Thames Water Utilities Limited, trading as Thames Water, is a British private utility company responsible for the water supply and waste water Wastewater (or waste water) is water generated after the use of freshwater, raw water, drinking w ...
went to help restore water supplies. US President
Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...
later visited
Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...
and İzmit to examine the level of destruction and meet with the survivors. The US dispatched military units to Turkey such as the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit under the name Operation Avid Response.


Future risk

There has been an increased seismic activity in the Eastern Sea of Marmara since 2002 and a quiescence of earthquakes on the
Princes' Islands The Princes' Islands (; the word "princes" is plural, because the name means "Islands of the Princes", , ''Pringiponisia''), officially just Adalar (); alternatively the Princes' Archipelago; is an archipelago off the coast of Istanbul, Turkey, ...
Segment of the North Anatolian Fault off the southern coast of Istanbul. This suggests that the long submarine seismic gap below the Sea of Marmara could result in another large earthquake. These possibilities are quite important, with respect to the segmentation of major fault ruptures along the North Anatolian Fault Zone in north-western Turkey. With the possible activation of segments towards the metropolitan areas of Istanbul, the Princes' Islands gap should be considered to have an impact on the large seismic hazard potential for Istanbul. Despite a long-term earthquake catalogue existing for the North Anatolian Fault Zone and for the Istanbul area in particular, the basic understanding of the seismicity there is still lacking. The observation of a seismic gap in the vicinity of the Istanbul metropolitan area was made possible through deploying a dense network of seismic stations and small arrays near the fault trace, south of the Princes' Islands. This improved monitoring along the Princes' Islands segment, which is west of the İzmit 1999 rupture and southeast of Istanbul's city center. It has highlighted the location of likely rupture points for future earthquake. It also limits the maximum size of future events along the whole Marmara seismic gap in case of cascade behavior. Knowing this, a regional earthquake early warning system for Istanbul and surroundings could be beneficial. The aseismic part of the Princes' Islands segment represents a likely high-slip area for a future large earthquake. Fault characterization is likewise very relevant to determine the directivity of earthquake waves approaching Istanbul. Modelling of potential impacts to Istanbul from different scenarios have shown to improve the estimation of hazards that the seismic gaps pose. Improved and denser seismic monitoring is expected from on-going efforts to install an underground (borehole-based) seismograph network in the Sea of Marmara. Istanbul, being the most populated city in Turkey, lies right near the segments of the North Anatolian Fault Zone, making it at very high risk to an earthquake-related disaster which could cause thousands of casualties and severe damage. Following the 1999 earthquake, there was an urgent need for the government to mitigate these risks. With the help of organizations like the World Bank, hundreds of buildings have been retrofitted and reconstructed, and thousands of citizens have been trained in disaster preparedness.


Gallery

File:Kavaklı.jpg , Flooded Kavaklı Beach in Gölcük File:F6-14.jpg , Tsunami wave causing minor surge File:F8-19.jpg , Fault scarp as a result of the earthquake File:Moletrack far.jpg , Surface rupture in Sakarya File:SismoTurquia03.jpg , Collapsed building File:F6-18.jpg , Destroyed buildings along a street File:August 17, 1999 Izmit earthquake Yuvacik.jpg , Classroom where the fault rupture went right under it


See also

* 1999 Düzce earthquake * List of earthquakes in 1999 * List of earthquakes in Turkey * Yalova Earthquake Monument * 2022 Düzce earthquake *
2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes On 6 February 2023, at 04:17 Time in Turkey, TRT (01:17 Coordinated Universal Time, UTC), a  7.8 earthquake struck southern and central Turkey and northern and western Ba'athist Syria, Syria. The epicenter was west–northwest ...


References


External links


M7.6 – western Turkey
–
United States Geological Survey The United States Geological Survey (USGS), founded as the Geological Survey, is an agency of the U.S. Department of the Interior whose work spans the disciplines of biology, geography, geology, and hydrology. The agency was founded on Mar ...

17 August 1999 Kocaeli Earthquake
– The European Association for Earthquake Engineering

– National Information Service for Earthquake Engineering * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Izmit earthquake, 1999 1999 earthquakes 1990s tsunamis August 1999 in Turkey 1999 Izmit History of Düzce Province History of Istanbul Province 1999 earthquake History of Kocaeli Province History of Sakarya Province History of Yalova Province Supershear earthquakes Tsunamis in Turkey Strike-slip earthquakes 1999 disasters in Turkey