Turkey: How terrible are earthquakes?

The birth of the new is preceded by the destruction of the old.

Fires, floods, earthquakes. From every catastrophe, from every natural cataclysm that claimed human lives, humanity has learned lessons and accumulated experience to avoid great destruction and a large number of victims.

New cities were growing in place of the destroyed ones. Life went on.

For centuries, construction safety technologies have remained far from perfect. And only the 20th and 21st centuries brought the latest technologies that allow the creation of human hands to withstand the indomitable poetry.

Istanbul is one of the cities that has experienced the effects of earthquakes.

On September 10, 1509, a devastating earthquake occurred in Istanbul, causing severe damage to the city – more than a thousand houses, many mosques and other buildings were destroyed, and, according to various estimates, from 4,000 to 10,000 people died. The strength of the earthquake was about 7 magnitudes.

Even the Fatih Mosque and Topkapi Palace were damaged. The resulting tsunami, 6 meters high, struck the Princes’ Islands.

The severe consequences were the reason why the earthquake of 1509 was called the Small End of the World (Küçük Kıyamet)

An engraving depicting the earthquake of 1509.

In the modern history of Turkey, the most devastating was the Izmit earthquake that affected Istanbul, which occurred on August 17, 1999. As a result of the earthquake, more than 17 thousand people were killed and another 25 thousand people were injured. 600 thousand people were left homeless.

According to experts, the main reason for the large number of victims and destruction was non-compliance with urban planning and earthquake resistance standards.

Some houses were built like houses of cards due to insufficient thickness and strength of load-bearing structures, lack of transverse reinforced concrete wall structures, as well as insufficient filling of walls with durable building materials.

The severe consequences of the earthquake caused the Turkish government to adopt the strictest building regulations, which include high requirements for earthquake resistance of buildings, as well as stricter control over compliance with construction standards.

This applies equally to high-rise buildings, large residential complexes, and small low-rise buildings. In accordance with the seismic stability map, building height standards have been established for each district of Istanbul. Even a slight deviation from seismic safety standards is fraught with huge monetary fines and loss of license for developers, as well as the inability to put the building into operation.

Each new building in Istanbul is capable of withstanding an earthquake of up to 8 points. This is above the maximum values for this region. All houses built in Turkey after 1999 comply with the strictest seismic safety standards.

Of the modern technologies used in construction, it is worth focusing on those that are widely used in construction and have proven their effectiveness. Radye-temel technology is used – self-leveling concrete foundation with reinforced reinforcement. Designed to dampen seismic waves.

The technology of seismic insulation of buildings is also used – so-called “pillows” are created from concrete, polymers that create a sliding effect. I.e., during tremors, buildings seem to slide along the foundation, and the stress creating faults is not created.

It should be mentioned separately the use of seismic shock absorbers, various kinds of dampers – massive structures acting on the principle of shock absorbers and designed to dampen vibrations.

Combined technologies are used in the construction of high–rise buildings – the lower floors are built using one of the types of seismic insulation, when special supports are used as structural elements, and various kinds of dampers are used at height.

Antiseismic seams are widely used – a type of deformation seams designed to reduce loads on structural elements in places of possible loads. Deformation seams divide the building into blocks, giving it a certain degree of elasticity. Thus, when shocks occur, the risk of cracks in the building structures is reduced.

Today, construction is carried out using the latest building materials, for example, high-strength and at the same time light alloys.

Istanbul is growing every year. New residential areas are emerging, and new territories are being included in the city.

The skyscrapers of Levent and the skyscrapers of the European districts of the city rise to the clouds.

And each new building towering over the streets of modern Istanbul embodies the victory of human thought.

Humanity is not immune from global cataclysms. A person can only learn from mistakes and create new, perfect systems and mechanisms that help not only protect his life, but also preserve what he created with his hands.

And Istanbul will always be a unique and majestic city, preserving the spirit of the great Ottoman Empire and one of the largest cities in the world, embodying the full power of modern Turkey.

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