There must be an Earthquake Scenario in Sakarya
The investigations carried out by the SUBU Earthquake Studies Application and Research Centre (DAMER) in Elazig and Malatya were completed.
DAMER Director Kırtel stated that the common labour, the lack of material quality and inspection are the leading cause of damage and loss of life.
Vice Rector Çağlar underlined that an earthquake scenario should be made as soon as possible in Sakarya.
After the earthquake in Elazig, SUBU Earthquake Studies Application and Research Centre (DAMER) announced its evaluations about the works carried out in the region with a press conference.
Vice Rector Prof. Dr. Naci Çağlar, The Director of DAMER, Assist Prof. Osman Kırtel, Assist Prof. Isa Vural, Assist Prof. Ali Sarıbıyık, and Assist Prof. Elif Boru and Assist Prof. Yusuf Sümer were among the attendees at the meeting.
DAMER Director Kırtel made a presentation about the findings obtained in the meeting. Vice-Rector Çağlar made a presentation regarding the outputs of the earthquake towards Sakarya.
After the overall evaluations, the questions of the press members were answered.
Qualified and Dynamic Centre
Vice-Rector Çağlar stated that they founded DAMER with a young and dynamic team specialized in the field. And he added: “We try to prepare earthquake reports and raise awareness of our citizens in our center. In this sense, our conferences and seminars will start soon. We support strategic plan studies. We want to contribute to the possible earthquake scenario that may take place in Sakarya. We will spread these efforts to our departments. For this purpose, we aim to form the Department of Emergency Aid and Disaster Management at the undergraduate level within our Faculty of Health Sciences. And also, at the associate degree level at Akyazı Health Vocational School.”
It is time to take an action!
The Vice-Rector Prof. Naci Çağlar said that they observed and reported similar problems after each earthquake. “There were almost similar problems in our region after the Marmara Earthquake. It is now time to take action as soon as possible. Existing building structures should be made earthquake-proof and resistant; risks should be identified and reduced; new buildings should be built to withstand earthquakes, following the earthquake regulations. Considering the seismicity and ground structure, Sakarya has a special position. Thus, it will also be affected by earthquakes in nearby cities. We need to be ready by completing the improvement works as soon as possible. Earthquake scenarios were carried out in many provinces. It also needs to be done in Sakarya. Some buildings experienced the 1967 and 1999 earthquakes in Sakarya. These buildings should also be examined and made ready for coming earthquakes.”
Constructions do not even comply with the 1975 regulation!
DAMER Director Kırtel stated that in some buildings, they found concrete mixtures that do not comply with the relevant standards and regulations in the Earthquake region. “We also saw that the materials which should not be in the concrete are used, and the constructions were subject to corrosion. Installations are pretty bad in terms of material quality.
We have seen that there are not enough stirrups in the columns of Sivrice Central Mosque, which was built in 2002, the connections are not suitable, and the reinforcement clamps are not manufactured. Many of the masonry constructions were constructed with traditional methods without any engineering consultancy. We did not observe any significant damage to masonry constructions that received engineering services in the center of Elazığ. These buildings survived with lesser damage. As a result, we can state that poor quality of materials, poor workmanship and lack of inspection caused colossal damage in buildings and great loss of life. Approximately 19 thousand buildings, which are mostly damaged due to these reasons, are all to be demolished.” The report prepared by DAMER can be accessed through https://damer.subu.edu.tr/tr/raporlar.
