EARTHQUAKESUnderstanding the Catastrophic Impact of the Earthquakes in Turkey
When a 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck south-eastern Turkey in the early morning hours of Feb. 6, it was identified as the most powerful seismic incident to hit the country since 1939. When a 7.6 magnitude earthquake was triggered just a few hours later, disaster spiraled to catastrophe – many buildings that had survived the initial impact were reduced to rubble and the death toll has reportedly surpassed 50,000. Professor Bora Gencturk at USC Viterbi School of Engineering travelled to Turkey to investigate the resilience of buildings impacted by the recent earthquakes.
When a 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck south-eastern Turkey in the early morning hours of Feb. 6, it was identified as the most powerful seismic incident to hit the country since 1939. When a 7.6 magnitude earthquake was triggered just a few hours later, disaster spiraled to catastrophe – many buildings that had survived the initial impact were reduced to rubble and the death toll has reportedly surpassed 50,000.
How could those buildings have been designed differently, and what lessons can be applied to boost the strength of our cities against future tectonic shifts?
That was the question posed to Bora Gencturk, an associate professor at the Sonny Astani Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering (CEE) and an expert in the resilience of reinforced concrete structures in the context of extreme events, specializing in the application of high performance materials. Gencturk was among a select group of structural engineers chosen by the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute (EERI) to travel to Turkey as part of the organization’s Learning from Earthquakes program.
The team’s on-site observations will be channeled into a comprehensive reconnaissance report informing future strategies to guide design, permitting, construction and inspection efforts. For now, Gencturk is still processing his exposure to the disaster zones – we caught up with him shortly after his return to Los Angeles.
How are you feeling since your return, and what were your first impressions?
To be honest, I’m exhausted. When you’re working in the field, you have to absorb sights of extreme destruction. Our team visited most of the affected areas while we stayed in Adana for three days and Gaziantep for four days.
According to most recent government reporting, there’s an estimate of over 60,000, buildings collapsed and another 100,000 buildings that are heavily damaged. When you’re on the streets, you mostly meet demolition workers or teams employed to remove debris – there are people living in tents and temporary housing, but otherwise the most hardly hit areas have been mostly abandoned. The majority of residents have fled the city because their homes are no longer inhabitable.
Has the experience given you a new perspective as a researcher?
It’s worth noting that these types of earthquakes are very rare events, with an average return period of anywhere from 500 to 2000 years. So, it’s very important to observe how buildings behave in such circumstances.
