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The strong shallow earthquake with a moment magnitude (Mw) range between 6.6 and 7.0 according to different sources (AFAD, KOERI and USGS) took place at local time 14:51 on 30th October 2020, in Aegean Sea near Samos Island. According to the data given from Earthquake Department of the Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD), the epicenter of the earthquake is 27.17km far away from the İzmir coast and the duration of the earthquake that occurred in 14.9km deep of the ground is 15.68s. The main shock of the earthquake brought about a small local tsunami that struck especially Seferihisar district in Izmir and Vathi in Samos. The main shock was followed by more than 5799 aftershocks with magnitudes varying between 0.7 and 5.1 in 62 days. Turkey, Greece and the islands in Aegean Sea felt the earthquake but it caused heavy damage and casualties at Bayraklı location in the city center of Izmir due to ground effects and structural problems. According to the data released after the field investigations made by the Turkish Ministry of Environment and Urbanization in the regions affected by the earthquake, 103 buildings collapsed and urgently demolished, 700 were severely damaged, 814 were moderately damaged, 7889 were slightly damaged and 159,000 were undamaged. The earthquake and tsunami resulted in 117 deaths and 1632 injured in Turkey, whereas two deaths and several injured in Samos, despite the distance between the epicenter and Turkey coast being more than Samos Island. One of these deaths occurred as a result of the tsunami and according to official sources; it was recorded as the first person to die from a tsunami in Turkey. This study aims to examine the damage and collapses that occurred on the structures due to the earthquake and the tsunami. The types and causes of damage that occurred on both reinforced concrete (RC) and masonry structures were evaluated in detail with taking into account the conditions of the existing Turkish Building Earthquake Design Code, [TBEC, [2018] Turkish Building Earthquake Design Code. Specifications for Structures to be Built in Disaster Areas (Earthquake Department of the Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency, Ankara, Turkey).] and previous Turkish Earthquake Codes (TECs).
A strong earthquake with a moment magnitude of Mw=5.9 according to the Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) occurred at 04:08 local time on November 23, 2022, in Gölyaka district of Düzce province that is located in the Western Black Sea region of Turkey. The earthquake with a shallow focus is 0.82 km away from Kemeryani village of Gölyaka district, which is the nearest settlement. According to observation data, the highest acceleration value of the earthquake was measured as 407.76 gal (0.410 g) in the East-West component measured from the 8102 coded Düzce Central accelerometer station, which is one of the five accelerometer stations closest to the earthquake zone. There was no loss of life in the earthquake, in which 93 people were injured. However, damages occurred due to the earthquake in structures that were built before the year 2000 and did not receive good engineering and supervision services. It has been determined that the structures built after the year 2000 received good engineering and supervision services performed better. The purpose of this study is to ensure that the experience gained as a result of the investigations about the earthquake that occurred will be made permanent and usable. For this purpose, damage and collapses that occurred on the buildings due to earthquake are examined based on field investigation. The types and causes of damage that occurred on both reinforced concrete and masonry buildings are evaluated in detail with considering the conditions of the existing Turkey Building Earthquake Design Code. The seismological characteristics of the earthquake are also evaluated. In addition, the earthquake hazard of Düzce Province is evaluated together with the earthquakes experienced in the past years, which caused significant loss of life and property in the region.