February 28, 2023 23:47
The earthquakes, which killed 44,000 people and destroyed cities in southeastern Turkey, prompted the country’s authorities to reconsider once again ways to respond to a similar tremor should it strike in Turkey’s densely populated industrial heart in the northwest.
Istanbul, Turkey’s largest city with a population of 16 million and the country’s commercial engine, is located near the faults in the tectonic plates that criss-cross Turkey. Two earthquakes, separated by three months, killed nearly 20,000 people in the northwest of the country in 1999. Geologists say a new earthquake is possible.
Yesterday, the World Bank estimated the direct material damage caused by the February 6 earthquake at about $34 billion, but the total costs of reconstruction and recovery could reach twice that amount. The southeastern region of the country includes a large part of the manufacturing sector, however it is smaller than its counterpart in northwestern Turkey.
An earthquake the size of the February earthquake, if it occurred in Istanbul, one of the major cities in the world, which is located on the strategic Bosphorus Strait, could lead to a great deal of havoc and destruction, and therefore more preparations are required.
Turkey meets several active fault lines, making it vulnerable to strong earthquakes. A branch of the North Anatolian Fault line runs through the Sea of Marmara, south of Istanbul.
Experts say attention should be refocused on Istanbul’s preparedness for a major earthquake, which has been a topic of public debate periodically since the 1999 disaster.
Since 1999, Istanbul has witnessed a rapid wave of urbanization.
Source: agencies
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