Earthquake struck Turkey on January 24, 2020

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Earthquake struck Turkey on January 24, 2020
Earthquake in Turkey on January 24, 2020 (Turkey)
Bullseye1.svg
Coordinates 38 ° 25 '52 "  N , 39 ° 3' 40"  E Coordinates: 38 ° 25 '52 "  N , 39 ° 3' 40"  E
date January 24, 2020
Time 17:55:14 UTC
intensity IX  on the MM scale
Magnitude 6.8  M W
depth 10 km
epicenter Doganyol
country Turkey
dead 41
Injured 1631


The earthquake in Turkey on January 24, 2020 shook eastern Turkey at 8:55 p.m. local time with a magnitude of 6.8 M w . 41 people were killed and more than 1,600 injured in the quake. Numerous houses collapsed or were damaged.

Tectonic background

The focus of the earthquake was a leaf displacement on the East Anatolian Fault . Here the Arabian plate moves in relation to the Eurasian plate with about 21 millimeters per year in a north-northwest direction against the Anatolian plate . The Anatolian Plate itself moves westward in relation to the other two plates. As a result, there is a sinistral shift at the East Anatolian Fault . After several severe earthquakes in the 19th century, the fault zone entered a tectonically calmer phase in the 20th century. In the section of the East Anatolian fault zone in which the quake of January 24, 2020 occurred, a major earthquake last occurred in 1875.

The magnitude of the earthquake is from the Turkish earthquake observatory and the European earthquake research company EMSC 6.8 M w classified, the American seismological station of the USGS are 6,7 M w on. Its epicenter was about 30 kilometers from the city of Elazığ . The Turkish earthquake monitoring station locates the focal depth at eight, USGS at ten and EMSC at fifteen kilometers. The length of the stove is estimated to be 30–40 kilometers.

The quake is said to have lasted about 40 seconds, according to witness reports. The tremors were also felt in Armenia , Georgia , Iraq , Iran , Israel , Lebanon and Syria .

According to USGS estimates, the perceived intensity of the earthquake reached level V or higher on the Modified Mercalli Scale for 6.23 million people , including level IX for 8,000 people, level VIII for 65,000 and level VII for 647,000.

Numerous epicentered aftershocks occurred along the SW-NE-trending East Anatolian Fault, of which 26 had magnitudes of 4 or higher by February 24, 2020.

Victims and damage

building number Stand / source
Inspected 39,460 January 31, 2020
Collapsed 584 January 31, 2020
To be demolished for security reasons 180 January 30, 2020
Severely damaged 6,845 January 31, 2020
Medium damage 962 January 30, 2020
Slightly damaged 10,273 January 30, 2020
Undamaged 12,615 January 30, 2020
The main fault zones in Turkey

According to the civil protection agency AFAD , 41 people were killed and 1631 injured in the earthquake. 45 people were rescued from the rubble. On January 27th, the search and rescue work was stopped after no one was considered missing.

The hardest hit provinces were Elazığ and Malatya . In a damage survey on around 40,000 buildings in the two provinces mentioned, as well as in Diyarbakır , Adıyaman and Kahramanmaraş , 584 collapsed buildings were counted. 180 buildings had to be demolished for security reasons, and thousands more were damaged.

Relief measures and responses

Helpers in front of a collapsed building in Elazığ

In an initial response, Turkish aid organizations sent more than 400 rescue teams to the affected areas. On January 25, more than 3700 helpers with 554 vehicles from the AFAD disaster control agency support the relief and rescue operations, as well as 108 helpers from NGOs and volunteers. A total of over 7100 helpers and 24 search dogs were in action. Temperatures in the region fell to −8 ° C at night during the rescue operations, and some of those affected had to spend the night in the open air by fires.

Those who had become homeless were housed in sports centers, schools, mosques and guest houses, among other places. AFAD and the Turkish Red Crescent delivered around 31,000 tents, 46,000 camp beds, blankets, heating, hygiene kits and food to the affected region. More than 1000 specialists were used for the damage assessment. As of January 28, there were support teams for psychosocial support in the region, they included more than 280 employees.

Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu declared the quake a level three event of the emergency response plan , which calls for support from forces across the state, but does not require international help. Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said the army was ready to provide disaster relief if necessary. Interior Minister Soylu promised financial support to the victims. President Recep Erdoğan promised that replacement apartments will soon be created for those affected. According to AFAD, five temporary container villages are being built from around 5,000 containers in the Elazığ province , four of them in the Elazığ district and one near Sivrice . The first container apartments were occupied a month after the quake. According to the Minister for Urban Planning, Murat Kurum, new houses are to be built by the end of 2000.

Classes were canceled for three weeks in 480 schools in the region, affecting around 125,000 students and 9,000 teachers.

In Turkey, mobile operators have set up the option to donate via SMS . With this and a donation account set up by AFAD, more than 98 million TL (approx. 15 million euros) in aid funds were donated.

Greece was the first country to offer assistance to Turkey through Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias . Many other states expressed their condolences.

At the request of the Turkish government, the World Health Organization (WHO) sent two experts to the region to support the coordination of health care measures. WHO praised the Ministry of Health's response to the quake as quick and effective. The General Director of the Turkish Red Crescent Ibrahim Altan was also satisfied with AFAD's search and rescue operations, and their speed and good coordination had saved many lives.

On the other hand, criticism was voiced in social media networks that warnings of possible earthquakes in the region had been ignored and that hardly any measures had been taken for earthquake-proof construction .

supporting documents

  1. ↑ a b c d e f 24 Ocak 2020 Sivrice (Elazığ) Mw 6.8 Depremi Raporu. (PDF, 29.5 MB): afad.gov.tr . February 2020, accessed March 5, 2020 (Turkish).
  2. ↑ a b c M 6.7 - 13 km N of Doganyol, Turkey. USGS, accessed May 28, 2020.
  3. ↑ a b M 6.8 - EASTERN TURKEY - 2020-01-24 17:55:14 UTC. ESCM, accessed May 28, 2020.
  4. ↑ Isil Sariyuce, Hamdi Alkhshali, Amir Vera: At least 22 dead, more than 1,200 injured in Turkey earthquake. In: cnn.com January 25, 2020, accessed January 25, 2020.
  5. ^ Powerful Quake Kills 14 People in Eastern Turkey. In: voanews.com . January 24, 2020, accessed on January 25, 2020.
  6. ↑ Umit Ozdal: Powerful earthquake jolts eastern Turkey, killing 18. In: reuters.com . January 25, 2020, accessed on January 25, 2020.
  7. ↑ Suzan Fraser: At least 18 dead after 6.8 magnitude earthquake shakes eastern Turkey. In: globalnews.ca . January 24, 2020, accessed on January 25, 2020.
  8. ↑ M 6.7 - 13km N of Doganyol, Turkey: Pager. USGS, accessed May 28, 2020.
  9. ↑ 24 Ocak 2020 SİVRİCE (ELAZIĞ) Mw 6.8 DEPREMİNE İLİŞKİN ÖN DEĞERLENDİRME RAPORU. (PDF, 2 MB): afad.gov.tr . January 25, 2020, p. 3, accessed January 26, 2020 (Turkish).
  10. ↑ a b c d BASIN DUYURUSU - 35 Elazığ ve Malatya'da İyileştirme Çalışmaları Devam Ediyor. In: afad.gov.tr . January 31, 2020, accessed February 2, 2020 (Turkish).
  11. ↑ a b c d e BASIN DUYURUSU - 33 Elazığ ve Malatya'da İyileştirme Çalışmaları Devam Ediyor. In: afad.gov.tr . January 30, 2020, accessed February 1, 2020 (Turkish).
  12. ↑ BASIN DUYURUSU - 21 Elazığ ve Malatya'da Müdahale ve İyileştirme Çalışmaları Sürüyor. In: afad.gov.tr . January 27, 2020, accessed January 27, 2020 (Turkish).
  13. ↑ a b 41 dead, 1,607 injured as massive quake of magnitude 6.8 rocks Turkey's Elazığ. In: dailysabah.com . January 28, 2020, accessed on January 28, 2020.
  14. ↑ Earthquake in Eastern Turkey: At least 18 dead. In: orf.at . January 24, 2020, accessed January 25, 2020.
  15. ↑ BASIN DUYURUSU - 14 Elazığ'daki Deprem Sonrası Müdahale ve İyileştirme Çalışmaları. In: afad.gov.tr . January 25, 2020, accessed January 27, 2020 (Turkish).
  16. ↑ a b c BASIN DUYURUSU - 48 Elazığ ve Malatya'da İyileştirme Çalışmaları Devam Ediyor. In: afad.gov.tr . February 13, 2020, accessed February 15, 2020 (Turkish).
  17. ↑ Bethan McKernan: Turkey earthquake: death toll rises as search for survivors continues. In: theguardian.com . January 25, 2020, accessed on January 25, 2020.
  18. ↑ a b Umit Bektas: Turkey ends rescue efforts after earthquake toll reaches 41. In: trust.org . January 27, 2020, accessed January 30, 2020 (English).
  19. ↑ BASIN DUYURUSU: 30 Elazığ ve Malatya'da İyileştirme Çalışmaları Devam Ediyor. In: afad.gov.tr . January 29, 2020, accessed February 1, 2020 (Turkish).
  20. ↑ Umit Ozdal: Rescuers dig for survivors after Turkey quake kills at least 29. In: reuters.com . January 26, 2020, accessed on January 26, 2020.
  21. ↑ Ali Murat Alhas: Magnitude 6.5 quake jolts eastern Turkey. In: aa.com.tr . January 24, 2020, accessed on January 24, 2020.
  22. ^ Andrew Wilks: Death toll rises to 35 as Turkish crews continue search for earthquake survivors. In: globalnews.ca . January 26, 2020, accessed on January 26, 2020.
  23. ↑ The earthquake in Turkey as a test for the government. In: derstandard.at . January 26, 2020, accessed January 30, 2020.
  24. ↑ BASIN DUYURUSU - 45 Elazığ ve Malatya'da İyileştirme Çalışmaları Devam Ediyor. In: afad.gov.tr . February 9, 2020, accessed February 10, 2020 (Turkish).
  25. ↑ 'Container city' in Elazığ gives new homes to Turkey's quake survivors. In: dailysabah.com . February 25, 2020, accessed on March 2, 2020.
  26. ↑ Schools reopen in quake-hit region in eastern Turkey. In: dailysabah.com . February 24, 2020, accessed on March 2, 2020.
  27. ^ Zuhal Demirci: Greek top diplomat condoles with Turkey over quake. In: aa.com.tr . January 24, 2020, accessed on January 24, 2020.
  28. ↑ World extends condolences over deathly quake in Turkey. In: hurriyetdailynews.com . January 25, 2020, accessed on January 25, 2020.
  29. ^ Turkey earthquake: health infrastructure intact, WHO supporting emergency response. WHO , January 28, 2020, accessed January 30, 2020.
  30. ↑ a b After the earthquake: Turkey suppresses criticism of crisis defense. In: dw.com . January 28, 2020, accessed January 30, 2020.