Türkiye’s Marmara area, which is dwelling to the nation’s largest metropolis Istanbul, is among the finest monitored on the planet for seismic exercise, in response to a senior Catastrophe and Emergency Administration Authority (AFAD) official.
“After we take a look at the seismicity and monitoring of the area, I can proudly say this: The Marmara area is maybe one of many best-monitored areas on the planet,” AFAD’s head of earthquake and danger discount Orhan Tatar informed Demirören Information Company (DHA).
“I can say that it is among the finest areas the place seismic exercise is monitored in essentially the most intense and efficient method with completely different strategies,” he added.
Tatar mentioned that the AFAD presently has round 262 earthquake remark stations within the area, in addition to deep seismometer units in each the east and west of the Marmara Sea.
“In different phrases, we’ve got sensors positioned at a depth of roughly 300 meters (985 toes) underground and monitoring methods with completely different sensors at completely different depths that we place at each 100 meters,” Tatar mentioned.
“Now we have some monitoring networks the place we are able to observe small crustal actions. Along with these, we’ve got a variety of sensors, which we name pressure gauges, with which we are able to monitor the exercise on the fault that we expect will trigger this earthquake.”
Tatar mentioned the AFAD has an earthquake monitoring and analysis middle working 24/7 inside its earthquake division.
“That is really a spot the place our nation’s pulse is stored and monitored when it comes to earthquakes,” he added. “We presently have 1,145 earthquake recording stations in our nation. This quantity will attain 1,185 by the tip of the yr, and we plan to extend this quantity to over 1,200 within the close to future. On this sense, our nation maybe has the biggest seismic remark community in Europe.”
Tatar additionally spoke concerning the significance of intervention and evacuation points in a potential earthquake in Istanbul.
“Whereas preparations are being made towards a potential earthquake in Istanbul, the AFAD, like all establishments of our state, continues its work intensively relating to Istanbul on points that fall inside its space of accountability,” Tatar mentioned. “Certainly one of these is the intervention facet, the opposite is the evacuation challenge, which is essential.”
Tatar mentioned that evacuation plans for Istanbul are “very wholesome and possible,” however they must be in a method that may discover a response on the sector.
“On this regard, these research are being carried out intensively inside our AFAD Istanbul Provincial Directorate, along with all our stakeholders, particularly with all our establishments which can be stakeholders within the Türkiye Catastrophe Response Plan,” Tatar mentioned.