Prof. Dr. Earthquake Analyzes of Şenol Hakan Kutoğlu
ZBEÜ Engineering Faculty Geomatics Engineering Lecturer Prof. Dr. Şenol Hakan Kutoğlu examined past earthquakes dating back to 222 BC and analyzed ground movements using satellite data and space technologies. While evaluating the fault lines in detail with the special software developed by them, they also reached important findings about the 17 August 1999 earthquake. In this context, “The fault line that broke on August 17 is a line that starts from Gölcük and extends to Düzce. This earthquake broke a line for 200 kilometers. Energy must accumulate on this fault for 200-250 years, so that an earthquake of the same magnitude “Therefore, the energy here is drained for now. “We do not expect an earthquake of this magnitude on this line.”
We Must Take Our Precautions
Prof. Dr. Kutoğlu stated that Turkey has many fault lines that can cause devastating earthquakes and said, “As a country, we live in a geography tested by earthquakes. Therefore, we must learn to live with earthquakes. Rather worry than about when an earthquake will occur, we have to take precautions about it. There should no longer be any loss of life as a result of earthquakes. For this, there are precautions that the authorities should take, and there are also issues that citizens should pay attention to. Since 1999, many legal regulations have been made and urban transformation projects have been implemented. However, we have not yet reached the level we want. Especially in the Marmara Region, we see that a significant part of the building stock was built without receiving engineering services. These structures need to be transformed quickly. Otherwise, the economic burden of the damage suffered after the February 6 earthquake on our country will increase. “God forbid, if an earthquake of a similar magnitude occurs in the Marmara Region or around Izmir, there may be much greater losses,” he emphasized.
Risk Spreading Strategy
Stating that it is necessary to increase the speed of urban transformation and develop methods that will attract the attention of citizens, Prof. Dr. Kutoğlu said, “It is always risky to increase population density and economic density to very high levels in a certain region. Turkey has a surface area of 800 thousand square kilometers. We should distribute both population density and economic density more widely across Turkey’s geography, instead of concentrating industry and other facilities in the Marmara or Aegean Region. “In this way, we can reduce the number of people and facilities that will be affected in the event of a major earthquake.”
The Riskiest Fault Lines
Prof. Dr. Kutoğlu gave the following information about the riskiest fault lines in Turkey: “Starting from the east, we have tense faults in the Erzincan-Erzurum region and the Bingöl-Yedisu line. When we come to the west, there is a fault with a high There are also high tension faults in the Sea of Marmara. In addition, the faults in the south passing through Gemlik Lake also have a high tension level. On the other hand, we observe that the tension level of some faults around İzmir-Manisa. The fault line passing through has also experienced a significant accumulation of tension after major earthquakes in the past. in the Pamukova-Geyve line, Gemlik Bay, Bandırma and around Izmir, and the tensions in the Marmara Sea come later. “When we look at it, I can say that they have the potential to produce earthquakes of at least magnitude 6.”
