Field Survey of Buildings After Mw = 7.8 Turkey Earthquake: Observations and Remedial Measures

On 6 February 2023, there was an earthquake of magnitude Mw = 7.8 in Southern Turkey, with its epicenter in the Pazarcik district of Kahramanmaras province. According to the Ministry of Interior, Turkey, more than 50,000 people lost their lives, with more than 100,000 people injured. Post-earthquake damage Surveys indicate that more than 50,000 buildings in 10 provinces collapsed or were heavily damaged. A team of structural engineers and disaster risk reduction experts from Miyamoto International were deployed to Turkey to investigate the earthquake response, shelter assessments, recovery strategies, and damage caused by this earthquake. The team conducted field surveys at earthquake-affected sites such as Pazarcik, Adiyaman, Antakya, Hatay, and many other towns. There are locations that are approximately 200 km from the fault rupture, but the soft soil in the area had the adverse effect of amplifying (how do we know this) the motion of the earthquake. This was combined with the buildings with old building codes that do not meet modern seismic requirements, and thousands of lives were lost there. The NASA-JPL satellite damage assessment shows that around 20 to 30 percent of building stocks have collapsed or been damaged. It was a devastating disaster, but at the same time, many buildings can be repaired and retrofitted. Miyamoto team surveys focused on the structural damage to the buildings and detailed assessment of why so many buildings collapsed. Local engineers from Turkey also participated in the field survey and gave inputs on local construction practices. The team is combining their findings with research being carried out with the aim of learning lessons from the earthquake and finding Ways to improve the construction of buildings to make them more resilient. This paper presents salient details of the field survey, observations, recommendations, and strengthening measures for predominant building types to enhance their safety.

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