Japanese expert warns Türkiye of possible major quake

A Japanese earthquake expert expects a major earthquake in Türkiye, especially in the Marmara Region, stating that the East Anatolian and Aegean fault lines have also begun to break.

Türkiye is an earthquake country, same as Japan, Yoshinori Moriwaki stated at a seminar on living with earthquake risk held in the Central Anatolian province of Afyonkarahisar.

Pointing out that it is necessary to be prepared to survive the earthquake with the least damage, the expert stated that though 20 percent of the earthquakes in the world occur in Japan, they have minimized the damages to be seen from the earthquake thanks to the training and preparations there.

“Japan experienced quite serious earthquakes. In Japan, people are fully prepared. However, 60 percent of the buildings in Türkiye are unlicensed constructions. Turkish authorities should solve this problem to minimize possible damage from an earthquake,” Moriwaki explained.

Providing information regarding a possible earthquake in Istanbul, Moriwaki warned that it is possible that a major earthquake will occur in the Marmara Region.

“A major earthquake is expected in Türkiye, especially in the Marmara Region. The Eastern Anatolian and the Aegean faults have also started to break,” Moriwaki said.

He emphasized that earthquake education should be provided to Istanbulites and residents of other regions of the country with high earthquake risk.

In addition to earthquake education, he also underlined that the problem of illegal construction, which is quite common in the country, should be solved.

“Preparations need to be accelerated. The process can proceed more quickly if retrofitting is carried out on buildings that are vulnerable to earthquakes instead of rebuilding them.

Türkiye is crossed by fault lines and is prone to earthquakes.

A catastrophic magnitude 7.6 earthquake struck the northwestern province of Kocaeli in 1999, causing monumental damage and nearly 18,000 deaths.

Nearly 16 million people were affected, with around 200,000 people becoming homeless.

The same year, another earthquake rattled the Black Sea province of Düzce on Nov. 12 at 6:57 p.m. local time with a moment magnitude of 7.2, causing damage and at least 845 fatalities.

The epicenter was approximately 100 kilometers (62 miles) to the east of the Kocaeli earthquake that happened a few months earlier.