Urban Earthquake Loss

Decision makers in earthquake-prone cities need quantification of the possible impact of seismic events in pre- and post-earthquake conditions. This quantification is based on the assessment of earthquake hazard, a systematic inventory and typology of the urban elements at risk and an analysis of their vulnerability. The pre-earthquake loss estimations assist in the prioritization of pro-active strengthening of vulnerable urban elements to ensure sustainability of urban life and functions, whereas rapid post-earthquake loss estimations would serve to optimization of the Search and Rescue (SAR) functions of the civil protection units.

Current State

In 1993, together with GeoHazards International, we have conducted a NATO Advanced Research Workshop in Istanbul on “Evaluation of Guidelines for Developing Earthquake Damage Scenarios for Urban Areas”, which included contributions on earthquake loss assessment studies conducted in Nice, Lisbon and Patras.
The UN-RADIUS Project carried out in connection with the International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction (IDNDR, 1990-2000) program developed earthquake loss assessments for two European (Izmir in Turkey and Skopje in Former Yugoslavian Republic of Macedonia) and seven other selected cities in other parts of the world.
We have served in the executive board of the RADIUS project and worked with BRGM (Bureau de Recherches Géologiques et Minières, Orleans) as consultants.

We carried out a comprehensive investigation of earthquake losses in Istanbul  and  under a NATO Science for Peace project, achieved urban earthquake risk assessments for the Central Asian cities of Tashkent and Bishkek.
KOERI-Loss software developed in connection with these research activities operates through a geographic information system (GIS) to quantify and portray the urban losses.

KOERI-EED has designed, and currently operates, the Istanbul Earthquake Rapid Response System, which consist of 100 free-field stations forming a dense urban array. After triggered by an earthquake, each station computes the spectral response amplitudes and communicates them to the data centre which automatically produces a building damage distribution map using KOERI-Loss software for subsequent transmission to SAR agencies.