On Wednesday, Türkiye marked the 23rd anniversary of one of the worst earthquakes in recent memory. On Aug. 17, 1999, more than 17,000 people were killed when a magnitude 7.4 earthquake hit the country’s northwestern provinces. The country has come a long way since the disaster, which forced it to overhaul its measures against the fallout of earthquakes. However, the danger is not over yet, especially for Istanbul, which was partially affected by the 1999 earthquake, experts say, pointing to the potential for an earthquake of similar magnitude in the near future in the Marmara region.
A 45-second earthquake rocked Kocaeli, Yalova, Sakarya, Istanbul, Düzce and nearby provinces in 1999. The epicenter was Kocaeli’s Gölcük district but the earthquake left a trail of destruction behind, razing thousands of buildings to the ground in the western Black Sea region, as well as provinces near the Marmara Sea.
It took years for the state to heal the wounds of thousands of people by rebuilding towns, while the government ensured measures would be in place in a future disaster – unlike the 1999 earthquake when the state was criticized for its slow response. Disaster response agencies were centralized and improved while an ambitious “urban transformation” campaign is still underway, allowing people to replace their residences or shops unable to endure a future disaster with new, sturdy ones with assistance from the government.
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