After the 7.7 and 7.6 magnitude earthquakes, the epicenter of which was in Kahramanmaraş and caused devastation in 10 provinces including Kilis, Diyarbakır, Adana, Osmaniye, Gaziantep, Şanlıurfa, Adıyaman, Malatya and Hatay, the whole of Turkey mobilized to heal the wounds in the disaster zone.
TUBITAK, which took action as soon as it received the news of the earthquake of the century, went to the disaster zone with 18 disaster groups, 28 institutions and 81 researchers. After the disaster that plunged Turkey into mourning, TUBITAK Marmara Research Center continues its various scientific research activities in the region.
Especially in Gaziantep, within the scope of the 'Gaziantep Province Seismic Hazard Assessment Project' carried out jointly with Gaziantep Metropolitan Municipality, many research, survey and evaluation studies are carried out for the purpose of soil classification, seismic hazard assessment and seismic risk assessment. TÜBİTAK MAM also contributes to the formation of accurate and effective decision-making mechanisms in post-disaster engineering, planning and management issues with its ongoing project studies.
EARTHQUAKE MONITORING STATIONS SET UP IN THE REGION
TÜBİTAK MAM continues to carry out useful work in the field from the moment the earthquake occurred. Immediately after the earthquake, TÜBİTAK MAM Climate Change and Sustainability Vice Presidency Earth Science Research Group initiated Post-Earthquake Emergency Observation Research (DEPAR-II) and started the installation of earthquake observation stations on the same day with 2 vehicles and a team of 6 people. In this context, while station installations were completed in Kahramanmaraş and Hatay on February 7-8, on the other hand, it is aimed to obtain important information on issues such as monitoring aftershocks and deformations after major earthquakes with Seismology and GPS observation networks, understanding the spatial and temporal behavior of the broken fault, understanding the stresses that may occur on neighboring fault segments and revealing areas with earthquake potential.
In addition, TÜBİTAK MAM, in cooperation with Yıldız Technical University and Boğaziçi University, continues to work on the installation of GPS observation stations in the region. With 13 near-field earthquake monitoring stations in the region, aftershocks are monitored on a 24/7 basis. It is aimed that such studies to determine the seismic hazard before other possible large earthquakes in the region will enable minimization of earthquake damages.
