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More than 50000 dead, many trapped as major earthquake strikes Turkiye, Syria,..,.

got some big earthquakes lately.

Sichuan Earthquake
Indian ocean earthquake
Haiti earthquake

Will death toll end up like above?
FpBQyssXgAAl6Yb


Intensity graph of 3 of the some biggest earthquakes of the last period. Unfortunately, the Kahramanmaras earthquake created a rupture exactly under the urban area and much closer to the surface. It generated a force about 10 times greater than the Gölcük earthquake. The length of the ruptured fault is estimated to be about 150 km. But the sad thing is that only 9-10 hours later, another parallel fault line in the region also ruptured with a magnitude of M7.6. The reason for such an increase in casualties is that the twin giant earthquake occurred within hours.

Hundreds of meters wide canyons have formed. Some hills have been leveled. Geography has changed. Yes, we cannot ignore the huge negligence, especially in terms of building stock, and we will follow up on all of them. However, we will better understand the magnitude of this disaster in time.
 
UN Secretary-General Guterres: "It is time for the world to support the Turkish people, who have always shown solidarity with those seeking help. Today, the UN is launching a $1 billion humanitarian appeal for the Turkish people hit by the worst earthquake of the century. I call on the international community to fully support this initiative to respond to the worst natural disaster of our time.

The funding will be spread over a 3-month period and aims to accelerate the contribution of aid organizations to the work carried out by the government, Guterres said, adding that 5.2 million people will be assisted in the areas of food, security, education, water and shelter.
 
That is surprising, because I have watched earthquakes in Turkey and Iran from my younger days on TV. 1999 İzmit earthquake is quite recent with 17,127 deaths.
1939 Erzincan earthquake is a bit old, but many people should have family memories of that since it killed 32,700 people.
The 1999 Izmit earthquake the maximum acceleration produced by this earthquake was around 0.5 G. The maximum acceleration produced by the 1939 Erzincan earthquake is unknown. Therefore, while the 2007 regulation was being prepared, the 1999 Izmit earthquake was taken as a basis. The requirement for buildings to withstand 0.5 G lateral acceleration was introduced. And notice, this requirement was put in as recently as 2007.

In the twin Kahramanmaras earthquakes of 2023, the maximum lateral acceleration measured was well above expectations. The maximum lateral acceleration produced by the earthquakes was around 1.7 G! The devastation area, as expected, was incomparably larger than the 1999 İzmit earthquake. It caused great damage in 10 provinces in Turkey and neighboring country Syria.

In summary, not only me, but also the experts who prepared the earthquake regulations were wrong about how devastating earthquakes could be in Turkiye.

Now everyone is terrified! They ask each other what we will do if the expected Istanbul earthquake creates 1.7 G acceleration. In this state, if Istanbul is caught in an earthquake that produces 1.7 G lateral acceleration, the death toll may even reach 1 million. The economic damage is immeasurable.
 
FpBQyssXgAAl6Yb


Intensity graph of 3 of the some biggest earthquakes of the last period. Unfortunately, the Kahramanmaras earthquake created a rupture exactly under the urban area and much closer to the surface. It generated a force about 10 times greater than the Gölcük earthquake. The length of the ruptured fault is estimated to be about 150 km. But the sad thing is that only 9-10 hours later, another parallel fault line in the region also ruptured with a magnitude of M7.6. The reason for such an increase in casualties is that the twin giant earthquake occurred within hours.

Hundreds of meters wide canyons have formed. Some hills have been leveled. Geography has changed. Yes, we cannot ignore the huge negligence, especially in terms of building stock, and we will follow up on all of them. However, we will better understand the magnitude of this disaster in time.
Interestingly, two of the most powerful earthquakes happened in low population areas and were not as deadly. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1960_Valdivia_earthquake and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1964_Alaska_earthquake
 
The 1999 Izmit earthquake the maximum acceleration produced by this earthquake was around 0.5 G. The maximum acceleration produced by the 1939 Erzincan earthquake is unknown. Therefore, while the 2007 regulation was being prepared, the 1999 Izmit earthquake was taken as a basis. The requirement for buildings to withstand 0.5 G lateral acceleration was introduced. And notice, this requirement was put in as recently as 2007.

In the twin Kahramanmaras earthquakes of 2023, the maximum lateral acceleration measured was well above expectations. The maximum lateral acceleration produced by the earthquakes was around 1.7 G! The devastation area, as expected, was incomparably larger than the 1999 İzmit earthquake. It caused great damage in 10 provinces in Turkey and neighboring country Syria.

In summary, not only me, but also the experts who prepared the earthquake regulations were wrong about how devastating earthquakes could be in Turkiye.

Now everyone is terrified! They ask each other what we will do if the expected Istanbul earthquake creates 1.7 G acceleration. In this state, if Istanbul is caught in an earthquake that produces 1.7 G lateral acceleration, the death toll may even reach 1 million. The economic damage is immeasurable.
Thank you for that information. About the 1939 earthquake, I saw this:
The 1939 Erzincan earthquake struck eastern Turkey at 1:57:23 a.m. on 27 December local time with a moment magnitude of 7.8 Mw and a maximum Mercalli intensity of XII (Extreme). It is the joint most-powerful earthquake recorded in Turkey, tied with the 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquake.

I don't know how reliable the source is, but someone seems to have an idea of the magnitude to put a number on it. Of course, that may not translate into (determining) acceleration easily. More interestingly, I also saw this:
Northern Anatolia was struck by a large earthquake on 17 August 1668 in the late morning. It had an estimated magnitude in the range 7.8–8.0 Ms and the maximum felt intensity was IX on the Modified Mercalli intensity scale. The epicenter of the earthquake was on the southern shore of Ladik Lake. It caused widespread damage from as far west as Bolu and as far east as Erzincan, resulting in about 8,000 deaths. It remains the most powerful earthquake recorded in Turkey.

This seems to have two sources. USGS and a book by a seismologist.
 
Thank you for that information. About the 1939 earthquake, I saw this:
The 1939 Erzincan earthquake struck eastern Turkey at 1:57:23 a.m. on 27 December local time with a moment magnitude of 7.8 Mw and a maximum Mercalli intensity of XII (Extreme). It is the joint most-powerful earthquake recorded in Turkey, tied with the 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquake.

I don't know how reliable the source is, but someone seems to have an idea of the magnitude to put a number on it. Of course, that may not translate into (determining) acceleration easily. More interestingly, I also saw this:
Northern Anatolia was struck by a large earthquake on 17 August 1668 in the late morning. It had an estimated magnitude in the range 7.8–8.0 Ms and the maximum felt intensity was IX on the Modified Mercalli intensity scale. The epicenter of the earthquake was on the southern shore of Ladik Lake. It caused widespread damage from as far west as Bolu and as far east as Erzincan, resulting in about 8,000 deaths. It remains the most powerful earthquake recorded in Turkey.

This seems to have two sources. USGS and a book by a seismologist.
In the 1939 Erzincan earthquake, 116,720 buildings collapsed. Look, this is not an exaggeration, there is almost no building left in a city that has not collapsed. Our country was already a young republic trying to heal the wounds of the war. The world was entering a catastrophic period, the isolationism of the USA was pushing Europe step by step towards war. Famine was spreading. It was precisely during this period that a significant part of the eastern Anatolia experienced an extraordinary disaster. The earthquake and the world war that broke out within a few years had a terrible impact on the Turkish people. Today, for example, because the earthquake is on the agenda, one of the topics of conversation is Istanbul's population density and unplanned urbanization. Even this problem has its roots in the period 1939-1950.

In your last two messages, you made a comparison based on the number of people who lost their lives, but I think this may not produce an accurate analysis in terms of scaling. For example, in the earthquake of 1939, the average storey height of the construction in eastern Anatolia was 1. In urban centers, it was 2 or 3. What I mean by the city center is just a few streets and avenues. Population density was incomparably lower.

People think that the Turkish nation had a large population in those years, perhaps because it fought on many fronts during the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. But the truth is that when we founded the republic, the population of our country was less than the number of disaster affected people by the Kahramanmaraş earthquake today. In fact, we were one of the countries with the smallest population in Europe.
 
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In the 1939 Erzincan earthquake, 116,720 buildings collapsed. Look, this is not an exaggeration, there is almost no building left in a city that has not collapsed. Our country was already a young republic trying to heal the wounds of the war. The world was entering a catastrophic period, the isolationism of the USA was pushing Europe step by step towards war. Famine was spreading. It was precisely during this period that a significant part of the eastern Anatolia experienced an extraordinary disaster. The earthquake and the world war that broke out within a few years had a terrible impact on the Turkish people. Today, for example, because the earthquake is on the agenda, one of the topics of conversation is Istanbul's population density and unplanned urbanization. Even this problem has its roots in the period 1939-1950.

In your last two messages, you made a comparison based on the number of people who lost their lives, but I think this may not produce an accurate analysis in terms of scaling. For example, in the earthquake of 1939, the average storey height of the construction in eastern Anatolia was 1. In urban centers, it was 2 or 3. What I mean by the city center is just a few streets and avenues. Population density was incomparably lower.

People think that the Turkish nation had a large population in those years, perhaps because it fought on many fronts during the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. But the truth is that when we founded the republic, the population of our country was less than the number of disaster affected people by the Kahramanmaraş earthquake today. In fact, we were one of the countries with the smallest population in Europe.
Thank you for that excellent narrative. Sometimes, we think only in technical terms forgetting the social and historical aspects. Turkey, based on its location, has undergone extreme events both physically and historically. Reaching back in time, creation of Dardanelles and Bosporus wouldn't have occurred without major upheavals. Without them, Turkey would not be what it is today.
 
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Turkey-Syria quake

CNN
Turkey’s earthquake left 84,000 buildings either destroyed or in need of demolition after sustaining heavy damage, Turkish Urban Affairs and Environment Minister Murat Kurum said Friday, according to state media.

The deadly earthquake – which sent shockwaves across the region – has so far killed more than 43,000 across both Turkey and Syria.

At least 38,000 people died in Turkey, according to Turkey’s governmental disaster management agency, AFAD. The death toll in Syria remains at least 5,841, according to the latest numbers reported Tuesday by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

Here’s the latest:

  • Since the February 6 earthquake, a total of 143 trucks loaded with aid provided by six UN agencies have crossed from Turkey to northwest Syria through two border crossings, a OCHA statement said Friday.
  • Two men were rescued in Hatay ten days after the earthquake struck, said Turkey’s Health Minister Fahrettin Friday. And late on Thursday, a 12-year-old boy was rescued from rubble in southern Hatay 260 hours after the earthquake hit, according to CNN Turk, which reported live from the scene.
  • World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said upon returning from Syria on Tuesday that more than a decade of war in the region has left towns destroyed, with the health system unable to cope with this scale of emergency. “Survivors are now facing freezing conditions without adequate shelter, heating, food, clean water or medical care,” he said.
  • Turkey added Elazig as the 11th province in the list of those impacted by the quake, the ruling party spokesman said.
  • A Turkish family was reunited with the ‘miracle baby’ that was found in the rubble of the quake after they had given up hope.
  • A confused woman asked her rescuers “What day is it?” when pulled alive from the rubble of last week’s earthquake after 228 hours.
  • After attending the Munich Security Conference in Germany, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel on to Turkey and Greece on Sunday to see US efforts to assist with the earthquake and to meet with Turkish and Greek officials, the State Department said Wednesday.
 
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Death toll in Turkiye, Syria quake tops 45,000; many still missing in flattened apartments

Reuters
February 18, 2023


<p>A man walks in front of a destroyed building in Samandag, south of Hatay on February 16, 2023, ten days after a 7.8-magnitude struck the border region of Turkey and Syria. — AFP</p>


A man walks in front of a destroyed building in Samandag, south of Hatay on February 16, 2023, ten days after a 7.8-magnitude struck the border region of Turkey and Syria. — AFP
More than 45,000 people have been killed in the earthquake that struck Turkiye and Syria, and the toll is expected to soar with some 264,000 apartments in Turkiye destroyed and many still missing in the country’s worst modern disaster.

Eleven days after the quake hit, three survivors were dug out from the rubble in Turkiye on Friday. The death toll in Turkiye stands at 39,672, while neighbouring Syria has reported more than 5,800 deaths. Syria’s toll has not changed for days.

Mosques around the world on Friday performed absentee funeral prayers for the dead in Turkiye and Syria, many of whom could not receive full burial rites given the enormity of the disaster.

While many international rescue teams have left the vast quake zone, domestic teams continued to search through flattened buildings on Saturday hoping to find more survivors who defied the odds. Experts say most rescues occur in the 24 hours following an earthquake.

Hakan Yasinoglu, in his 40s, was rescued in the southern province of Hatay, 278 hours after the 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck in the dead of night on Feb. 6, the Istanbul Fire Brigade said.

Earlier, Osman Halebiye, 14, and Mustafa Avci, 34, were saved in Turkiye’s historic city of Antakya, known in ancient times as Antioch. As Avci was carried away, he was put on a video call with his parents, who showed him his newborn baby.
 
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Phelan Chatterjee
BBC News

Rescue workers in Turkey have pulled at least three people from the rubble, over 11 days after they were trapped when an earthquake hit the country.

Hakan Yasinoglu had been stuck under a flattened building in the hard-hit Hatay province for 278 hours when workers reached him on Friday.

Teenager Osman Halebiye and Mustafa Avci, 34, were also saved in Antakya.

"I had completely lost all hope. This is a true miracle," Mr Avci's father told Reuters news agency.
"I thought nobody could be saved alive from there," he added. Mr Avci's daughter was just a few hours old when the quake struck, and as he was loaded onto a stretcher by paramedics he was connected with his child via video call.

His wife, Bilge Avci, managed to avoid the earthquake's devastation and escaped with their child - but Mr Avci got trapped under the rubble, according to local media. Mr and Mrs Avci - and baby Almile - were reunited late on Friday at a hospital in the southern city of Mersin...

Mustafa Avci kissing his baby in hospital after being rescued 261 hours after quake
,ANADOLU AGENCY
Baby Almile's family reunited after her father was trapped under a building for 11 days

The latest rescues come as the death toll caused by the 7.8 magnitude earthquake in Turkey and Syria passed 41,000 - a figure which is expected to rise dramatically.

As time passes, officials are less optimistic that they can continue to rescue people trapped beneath the rubble. This is partly due to limits on how long the human body can survive without water, and experts say most rescues occur within the first 24 hours of a disaster.
 

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