A geophysicist has highlighted the hazards of soil liquefaction, the apply of filling within the sea to develop the coastal land for extra building area, and warned in opposition to its potential dangers.
A potential large-scale earthquake can be devastating for these areas, particularly within the western coastal metropolis of Izmir, the place districts like Konak and Karşıyaka have the best inhabitants density, stated Sinancan Öziçer, the pinnacle of the Izmir Branch of the Chamber of Geophysics Engineers.
“Our structures are outdated, and tens of thousands of buildings have not yet received engineering service because our citizens are unaware. Therefore, in case of a possible earthquake between 6.2 and 6.6 magnitudes, the loss of life and property could be tremendous,” he defined.
Soil liquefaction means the collapse or tilting of buildings constructed on soil saturated with water. Regular earthquake tremors ultimately trigger the bottom beneath to lose energy and transfer the buildings atop. An instance of this was recorded within the October 2020 earthquake that destroyed a big chunk of Izmir’s Seferihisar district.
Noting that that is as a result of resonance and bedrock depth being deeper in Konak and Karşıyaka areas, Öziçer stated, “It is necessary to design the structures with site-specific acceleration values by calculating the bedrock depth. For this, deep geophysical methods for more economical and sensitive results with earthquake-resistant structures should be used in a shorter time.”
Öziçer stated that an earthquake as huge because the Izmir earthquake isn’t anticipated in Istanbul for the reason that two cities differ of their tectonic constructions, “But the risk is higher in Istanbul where the ground is composed of a fragile alluvial layer throughout.”
“We need to raise awareness and increase scientific studies that can minimize earthquake damage. The bitter experiences we have had in the past have shown the importance of ground survey projects. While inspection mechanisms should be increased in each municipality, unfortunately, in a city like Izmir, only 10 of the 30 district municipalities employ geophysical engineers,” he stated.
As the Chamber of Geophysics Engineers, “We invite everyone to take responsibility against earthquakes, which have many parameters. There is no pessimism and fear of an earthquake; it is a natural disaster,” he emphasised.
Öziçer stated that the city transformation must be accelerated by preserving the social amenities in Izmir and that the danger of lack of life could be decreased by elevating consciousness of the fundamental catastrophe, fixing non-structural supplies, and proper actions within the occasion of an earthquake. They defined that about 1,000 folks died as a result of non-structural objects within the 1999 earthquake. Therefore, all municipalities ought to revise and enhance their assembly areas after the catastrophe.
Source: www.dailysabah.com
