Japanese earthquake expert makes statement on Hatay

Japanese earthquake expert Yoshinori Moriwaki attended the International Conference on High-Level Earthquake and Disaster Prevention held in the Antakya district of Hatay, which also featured online participants.

While scientists from Japan joined the meeting online, the conference compared the earthquake in Japan with the earthquakes centered in Kahramanmaraş.

Emphasizing that he does not expect a major earthquake in Hatay, Moriwaki recommended 2-3 story horizontal architecture for the city.

"ALMOST HALF OF THE STRUCTURES IN TURKEY ARE BUILT AS ILLEGAL"

Japanese earthquake expert Yoshinori Moriwaki stated that the earthquakes in Japan and Kahramanmaraş were similar, saying, "Today, 4 of our professors came, especially from Japan. We will discuss how it is done in Japan and how we can do it better in Turkey. We will give a presentation of about an hour. Then, we will have a Q&A session with my colleagues in Japan. A major earthquake occurred in Japan on January 1st. It was an earthquake with the same intensity and depth as the second earthquake in Kahramanmaraş. In terms of loss of life, the Kahramanmaraş earthquake caused the deaths of 50 thousand people, while 100 people have lost their lives in the earthquake in Japan so far. This number could rise to 200. There is no major damage in the country; there were problems in some old buildings. While a tsunami of 5 meters was expected, it was 1.5 meters. It was not very bad, but it still happened in a place the country did not expect. The earthquakes are the same, but in Japan, people build their constructions by obtaining their permits one hundred percent. Unfortunately, if there are 21 million structures in Turkey, almost half of them are built as illegal. At the same time, there is a problem with education in Turkey. In Japan, education on earthquakes is provided at a young age. Earthquake education should also be provided at a young age in Turkey."

"NO MAJOR EARTHQUAKE EXPECTED IN HATAY"

Pointing out that a destructive earthquake is not expected in Hatay following the earthquakes on the North Anatolian fault line, Japanese earthquake expert Moriwaki said, "A major earthquake is not expected in Hatay because the city has already experienced large-scale earthquakes twice. As part of the North Anatolian fault line, earthquakes occurred twice in Elazığ, Kahramanmaraş, and Hatay. If an earthquake occurs in the sea towards Cyprus as a continuation of this fault line, Hatay could also be affected. Since the Mediterranean is not in the middle of an ocean like in Japan, a wave of 1 or a maximum of 3 meters could form in a possible tsunami. If there are people on the seaside after an earthquake, they must definitely flee to high places. I did not expect Hatay to be in such a bad state. I had visited this city 10 times before. Hatay is a city of culture; it is a great pity for this city. We need to fix the city slowly and return to it. From now on, when building in the plains, one should not exceed 4 stories. If possible, construction should be in areas higher than the plains. It would be better if Hatay builds its buildings in a 2-3 story horizontal manner. Japan is now trying to build its buildings horizontally. The province of Erzincan also continues its horizontal construction by not exceeding 4 stories following the earthquakes it experienced. Hatay needs to be the same way."