A press conference was held at Boğaziçi University Kandilli Observatory and Earthquake Research Institute on the occasion of the 24th anniversary of the 7.4-magnitude earthquake centered in Kocaeli's Gölcük district, which killed approximately 18 thousand people.
Prof. Dr. Haluk Özener, Director of Boğaziçi University Kandilli Observatory and Earthquake Research Institute, took part as a speaker at the meeting held to raise awareness about earthquake risks in Turkey and to remind the measures to be taken against earthquakes.
“WE ARE OBSERVING ALL OF TURKEY WITH 268 SEISMIC STATIONS”
Haluk Özener, who made the opening speech, drew attention to the earthquakes in Kahramanmaraş that took place last February 6th. Giving examples in his presentation, Özener said, "While we were observing Turkey with 30 recording stations with such manual devices in 1999, today we are observing the whole of Turkey with 268 seismic stations. This place works 3 shifts 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. We continue to monitor the reality of Turkey's earthquake structure with 489 different sensors across Turkey. 264 of these sensors are in Marmara. We have intensified our work here much more. We actually have the capacity to resolve our earthquakes in 30 seconds. We provide automatic location, but you know, we get much more reliable results when earthquake waves spread to other stations. Therefore, as is the case here right now, our friend on duty manually resolves earthquakes and informs you of their exact location within 7, 8, 10 minutes with the community at the latest. We also make earthquake observations from different seismic networks. In other words, we share data with neighboring countries as well."
“AVERAGE OF 7 EARTHQUAKE IN 6.2 YEARS ON AVERAGE IS EXPERIENCED IN THIS GEOGRAPHY”
Özener stated that he wanted to give some statistical information in his speech.
"In our country, more than 3 earthquakes occur every day; between 3 and 3.9. We have an earthquake between 4 and 4.9 almost every week. 5 to 5.9 every 1.5 months; We have between 6 and 6.9 earthquakes in an average of 1.5 years and unfortunately over 7 earthquakes are experienced in this geography in an average of 6.2 years. Therefore, our country is an earthquake country. If you look at the numbers for which earthquake solutions have been made, after the two major earthquakes we experienced in 2023, more than 46 thousand earthquakes have occurred as of today, including aftershocks. As you can see, the earthquakes concentrated on the Gaziantep-Maraş earthquakes. There are more than 5 earthquakes in that region over 50. The number of earthquakes above 4 is over 600," Özener added.
“WE MUST REMEMBER THE FACT THAT A GREAT EARTHQUAKE IS EXPECTED IN THE SEA OF MARMARA”
Drawing attention to the earthquakes in the Marmara Region, Özener said, "When we look at the records in the historical period, more than 3 thousand 500 earthquakes occurred in Marmara. In other words, every year, there are more than 30 earthquakes or more than 3 earthquakes in the Marmara Region. In 2000, there were 900 earthquakes in some years and more than 600 in some years in the Marmara Region. Sometimes there is speculation. When there was a 3.6 earthquake in the Marmara Sea recently, there was a perception like 'Is this the signals or sounds of a big earthquake?' These earthquakes are within the natural seismic activity of Marmara. It never means that. In other words, the perception that a 7 earthquake will bring right after the 3.6 earthquake is not very accurate. However, it should not be forgotten that there is a big earthquake expectation in the Marmara Sea."