Task 21: Revision (Revised)

Turkey is located in a region that suffers from severe earthquakes almost every year. These earthquakes have caused plenty of damage both to the infrastructures and to the human lives. The most destructive earthquake, which was occurred in August 1999, damaged two kilometers area and three cities, thereby causing the loss of approximately 20,000 people and millions of dollars.

The repeated occurrence of these natural disasters is attributable to the fact that Turkey is located in the Central Anatolian Fault Zone, one of the most active fault zones in the world, which lies along the northern part of the country, going from southeast to northwest. However, the reason why these earthquakes cause such a huge damage is not only because of the nature of the fault zone, but also because of the lack of preparation in the regional planning. This lack of thoughtful planning misled the planners to construct many cities and highways over the Fault Zone.

In recent years, there have been many efforts to decrease the damage from the earthquakes. As a possible method, the early warning system has been developed to alert people about upcoming earthquakes. Although giving warning as short as 10 seconds before the tremors, if there is a well-planned rescue organization, this system may help to decrease, at least, the death rates in the earthquakes.