“Istanbul Earthquake” Statement by the Director of the Kandilli Observatory

Speaking to the French news agency AFP, Kalafat responded to the question whether the earthquakes in Kahramanmaraş, which killed more than 50,000 people, would affect Istanbul.

Kalafat said the earthquake on February 6 did not trigger the earthquake that was expected to hit Istanbul. Stating that there was no increase in risk in Istanbul, Kalafat said: “The risk has not increased because we are talking about completely different systems here.”

“I WANT TO SAY THE BUILDINGS ARE READY BUT…”

The news agency commented: “While the number of skyscrapers has increased in recent years in Istanbul, home to 16 million people spread across two continents, it is questioned whether they are prepared for a major earthquake.”

“I want to say that they are ready, but it is a very big city and there are many buildings that are not being built correctly,” Kalafat said. Kalafat said that poor-quality cement and building buildings on soft ground are also negative qualities. Kalafat said: “We should make good use of this time as we wait for the big earthquake. We must build earthquake-resistant buildings on the mainland, this is the most important measure to take.”

Stating that they constantly monitor earthquakes and tremors at the observatory, Kalafat said, “Since February 6, there have been 9,000 surges in Turkey. This is 7-8 times more than it should be, ”he said. “Kalafat said there is a 65 percent chance of an earthquake measuring 7 or more in the region, which also includes Istanbul, by 2030,” the AFP report said.

It was also stated that the risk will increase to 75 percent in the next 50 years and 95 percent in the next 90 years.

DETAIL OF THE EARLY WARNING SYSTEM

“Despite current technologies, it is impossible to predict earthquakes. We can estimate with a margin of error. We can predict where an earthquake might occur and its size, but we cannot know when it will happen,” Kalafat said, also speaking about the early warning system.

“Istanbul is too close to the fault line for this system to work effectively,” Kalafat said.