Turkey's earthquake reality: Major disasters are not forgotten

Following the earthquake that affected Istanbul, the major earthquakes that have shaken Turkey came to mind.

After the 6.2 magnitude earthquake that occurred today, the major earthquakes in Turkey were recalled. Here are those earthquakes;

September 13, 1924 Horasan Earthquake: 60 people lost their lives in the 6.8 magnitude earthquake centered in Horasan.

May 7, 1930 Hakkari Earthquake: 2 thousand 514 lives were lost in the 7.2 magnitude earthquake that occurred on the Turkey-Iran border.

1939 Erzincan Earthquake: The Erzincan Earthquake, which went down in history as one of the world's largest earthquakes, occurred in 1939 with a magnitude of 7.9. Because aid could not reach in time, 33 thousand people lost their lives and more than 100 thousand people were injured in this earthquake.

December 20, 1942 Niksar-Erbaa Earthquake: The district was officially wiped off the map by the 7.0 magnitude destructive earthquake that occurred in the Erbaa district of Tokat in 1942. Only a few structures remained standing. In this earthquake, 3 thousand people passed away and 6 thousand 300 people were injured.

June 20, 1943 Hendek Earthquake: 336 people lost their lives in the 6.6 magnitude earthquake that occurred centered in Adapazarı on June 20, 1943.

November 27, 1943 Tosya-Ladik Earthquake: In the 7.2 magnitude earthquake experienced in the Tosya district of Kastamonu in 1943, the infrastructure of residential areas was completely destroyed, and roads and railways became unusable. Fires broke out during the earthquake and 4 thousand people lost their lives.

February 1, 1944 Bolu-Gerede Earthquake: Due to the 7.2 magnitude earthquake, all villages and towns in the region were razed to the ground, and 3 thousand 959 citizens lost their lives.

March 28, 1970 Gediz Earthquake: 1 thousand 86 people passed away in the 7.2 magnitude earthquake that occurred centered in Kütahya / Gediz on March 28, 1970.

August 19, 1966 Varto Earthquake: In the 6.9 magnitude earthquake that occurred in the Varto district of Muş in 1966, 2 thousand 394 people lost their lives and 1 thousand 489 people were injured.

September 6, 1975 Lice Earthquake: 2385 people passed away in the 6.2 magnitude earthquake that occurred in the Lice district of Diyarbakır.

1976 Çaldıran Earthquake: In the 7.5 magnitude earthquake that occurred in the Çaldıran district of Van, 80 percent of the residential areas were destroyed and 3840 citizens lost their lives.

August 17, 1999 Gölcük Earthquake: The Gölcük Earthquake, one of the earthquakes with the highest loss of life in Turkey, occurred on August 17, 1999, with a magnitude of 7.5. In the earthquake, 18 thousand 373 people lost their lives and 48 thousand 901 people were injured. More than 600 thousand people were left homeless due to the destructive earthquake.

November 12, 1999 Düzce Earthquake: In the 7.2 magnitude earthquake that lasted 30 seconds in Düzce on Friday, November 12, 1999, at 18.57, 894 citizens lost their lives and nearly 5000 people were injured.

May 1, 2003 Bingöl Earthquake: The Bingöl Earthquake, one of the earthquakes affecting the east of Turkey, occurred on May 1, 2003, with a magnitude of 6.4. 176 people lost their lives in the earthquake. 625 buildings collapsed or were heavily damaged in the earthquake. Additionally, 84 lives were lost when the dormitory block collapsed at the boarding school in Çeltiksuyu.

October 23 - November 9, 2011 Van Earthquake: A total of 644 people lost their lives in the two earthquakes with magnitudes of 7.2 and 5.6 that occurred in Van 11 years ago and caused great destruction. In Van, which experienced destruction for the second time with the 5.6 magnitude tremor on November 9, 2011, 16 days after the earthquake, 40 people lost their lives. Intense efforts were made to rescue those trapped in the rubble of buildings with search and rescue operations launched after the earthquakes, in which hundreds of buildings collapsed in the city center and Erciş, and houses in the villages were destroyed.

January 24, 2020 Sivrice Earthquake: The 6.8 magnitude earthquake, whose epicenter was in the Sivrice district of Elâzığ, lasted longer than 40 seconds. The earthquake was felt throughout the entire Eastern Anatolia region, especially in Elâzığ and Malatya. 41 people lost their lives and 1 thousand 607 people were injured in the earthquake.

October 30, 2020 Seferihisar Earthquake: 116 people lost their lives and 1 thousand 34 people were injured in the 6.6 magnitude earthquake that occurred off the coast of the Seferihisar district of İzmir on October 30, 2020. After the earthquake, a total of 3 thousand 630 aftershocks were recorded, 48 of which were above magnitude 4.

February 6 Kahramanmaraş Earthquake: Two major earthquakes with magnitudes of 7.7 and 7.6 in the Pazarcık and Elbistan districts of Kahramanmaraş caused loss of life in 11 provinces. While 50 thousand 783 people lost their lives in the earthquake, 107 thousand 204 people were injured. A total of 1 million 895 thousand 348 buildings were damaged in the earthquake zone of Kahramanmaraş, Hatay, Gaziantep, Osmaniye, Malatya, Adıyaman, Adana, Diyarbakır, Kilis, and Şanlıurfa, and 303 thousand 455 of these were determined to be in need of urgent demolition, heavily damaged, moderately damaged, or destroyed.