GEOG ASSIGNMENT: 2010

Secondary One

History-Geography Integrated Assignment

Geography component

Term 1

2010

On 17 August 1999, Izmit, Turkey, was shaken by a magnitude 7.4 earthquake. It lasted for 37seconds. The earthquake occurred along the western portion of the North Anatolian Fault Zone. The Anatolian Plate, which consists of Turkey, is being pushed west about 2–2.5 cm (0.8–1.0 in) a year, as it is squeezed by the Eurasian Plate, African Plate and the Arabian Plate. Major earthquakes in Turkey result from slips along the North Anatolian Fault Zone or the Eastern Anatolian Fault.

During the first few days, the extent of the damage and human loss were seriously underestimated. Rescue operations were delayed because of lack of communications. Many apartment buildings collapsed, causing the death of many people in the earthquake region. The navy base and ship-building yard at Gölcük were cut by surface faulting, causing damage and the death of at least 400 soldiers and high ranking officers. The Izmit earthquake claimed 15,000 lives, but thousands more are still missing. It impacted a densely populated area in the industrial heart of turkey. At that time, the government didn’t have a procedure for dealing with such disaster. In the aftermath of the earthquake, the government improved the ability to cope with such disasters by stepping up the Civil Defense training and equipment and forming rescue teams to deal with disasters.

Many of the injuries sustained by people are as a result of falling debris from buildings. Given the tremendous forces that exist in an earthquake, a building could never be made earthquake-proof. However, there are a number of ways that buildings can be made more resistant to earthquake damage. Buildings can be designed to have a number of features which are likely to provide resistance to the damaging effects of earthquakes. Damage could still occur, but the safety of the people inside the buildings is greatly enhanced by these special features.

Bibliography:

Websites

http://quake.usgs.gov/research/deformation/modeling/papers/barka/17Agust1999/17Agust1999.html