Authorities, citizens and survivors remembered yesterday the 117 dead and 1,000 injured victims of the 6.6 magnitude earthquake that devastated the city of Izmir, Turkey’s third largest, on 30 October 2020, damaging 1,329 buildings, 731 of them severely.
One of the most emotional ceremonies took place in the Bayraklı district, located north of the city and one of the worst affected by the earthquake 4 years ago, where attendees laid flowers in front of a memorial to the victims and fire trucks sounded their sirens at 14:51, the exact time the earthquake struck, after which all present observed a minute’s silence.
Four years after the tragedy, however, many buildings in the Aegean coastal city are still at serious risk of collapse in the event of another earthquake, which experts believe is quite likely. ‘We have to do something to rebuild especially those structures most at risk,’ said the city’s metropolitan mayor, Cemil Tugay. Many of these buildings at serious risk of collapse were built before 1999, when building regulations in Turkey were tightened following the Great Marmara Earthquake that left nearly 20,000 people dead.
Izmir must prepare for earthquakes of magnitude over 7
In this regard, a report presented by geology expert Hasan Sözbilir and reported in the Turkish media warns that at least 60% of Izmir’s buildings are at serious risk of collapse in the event of an earthquake of magnitude 7 or higher. ‘When we look at the current data, we see that a significant part of the pre-1999 building stock is still standing. Therefore, we cannot say that Izmir is an earthquake-resistant city right now,’ said Sözbilir.
The expert explained that Izmir is under the influence of about 40 tectonic faults that run through the region both on land and at sea, and which could also be affected in the event of earthquakes in neighbouring provinces. In fact, according to Sözbilir, the 2020 earthquake was triggered by the rupture of a fault located 70 km away from the city, and the energy unleashed actually decreased until it reached Izmir and triggered the 6.6 magnitude tremor.
‘Therefore, when the faults within our own province rupture, that is when we will see the real damage (we may suffer),’ he warned. ‘It is necessary to prepare for such earthquakes; in other words: Izmir needs to prepare for earthquakes of magnitude 7 and above,’ he concluded.
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Edited and reviewed by:
Pablo Gómez is a specialist in Turkey and has been editor-in-chief of Hispanatolia since 2011. He has been analysing current affairs and geopolitics in Turkey and the surrounding region since 2006.
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