A database for fatalities and damages due to the earthquakes in Turkey (1900–2014)

Abstract

Considering the possibility of the reoccurrence of the earthquakes in which loss of life and property have accrued, the possibility of future losses can be minimized. In Turkey, although the information about the fatalities and damaged buildings might be contrived in the resources, those have limited information and contain substantial differences. Moreover, that information might not be presented in a common database. Some information presented by Turkey Prime Ministry Disaster & Emergency Management Authority, Kandilli Observatory and Earthquake Research Institute and United States Geological Survey is inconsistent not only in the number of earthquakes, fatalities, damaged buildings, the magnitude and intensity of earthquakes, but also at the date of the same earthquake. In this study, first, the resources providing the data regarding the earthquakes causing fatalities and damage between 1900 and 2014 in Turkey have been analyzed. Then, through examining all the databases, literature and available historical documents, a single updated list of the earthquakes that shows the fatalities and damages between 1900 and 2014 in Turkey has been prepared. Finally, in light of the data rearranged, the statistical facts about the losses in the historical earthquakes are presented.