2019 Istanbul earthquake was a 5.8 magnitude earthquake that rocked the south-west of
Istanbul
Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...
on 26 September 2019 at 13:59 local time.
One person died due to a heart attack and 43 people were injured.
The earthquake was felt in
Istanbul
Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...
,
Tekirdağ
Tekirdağ (; see also its other names) is a city in Turkey. It is located on the north coast of the Sea of Marmara, in the region of East Thrace. In 2019 the city's population was 204,001.
Tekirdağ town is a commercial centre with a harbou ...
,
Kırklareli
Kırklareli () is a city within Kırklareli Province in the European part of Turkey.
Name
It is not clearly known when the city was founded, nor under what name. The Byzantine Greeks called it Sarànta Ekklisiès (''Σαράντα Εκκλησι� ...
,
Kocaeli and
Sakarya Sakarya may refer to:
Places
* Sakarya Province, in Turkey
** Sakarya (electoral district)
** Sakarya University
* Sakarya (continent), a small continent 90 million years ago
* Sakarya River, in Turkey
* Sakarya, Polatlı, a village in Ankara Pro ...
.
Background
North Anatolian Fault
The North Anatolian Fault (NAF) ( tr, Kuzey Anadolu Fay Hattı) is an active right-lateral strike-slip fault in northern Anatolia, and is the transform boundary between the Eurasian Plate and the Anatolian Plate. The fault extends westward fro ...
system is a
strike-slip fault
In geology, a fault is a planar fracture or discontinuity in a volume of rock across which there has been significant displacement as a result of rock-mass movements. Large faults within Earth's crust result from the action of plate tecton ...
system located in the northern side of
Anatolian plate
The Anatolian Plate is a continental tectonic plate comprising most of the Anatolia (Asia Minor) peninsula (and the country of Turkey).
To the east, the East Anatolian Fault, a left lateral transform fault, forms a boundary with the Arabian Pl ...
, which lies between relatively stationary
Eurasian plate
The Eurasian Plate is a tectonic plate that includes most of the continent of Eurasia (a landmass consisting of the traditional continents of Europe and Asia), with the notable exceptions of the Indian subcontinent, the Arabian subcontinent and ...
in the north and the
Arabian plate
The Arabian Plate is a minor tectonic plate in the Northern and Eastern Hemispheres.
It is one of the three continental plates (along with the African and the Indian Plates) that have been moving northward in geological history and collidi ...
in the south. Approximately 1500 km in length, the North Anatolian fault system passes about 20 kilometers south of Istanbul. Strong earthquakes occur at certain intervals along the fault.
The last large earthquakes in the fault system happened in 1999. In 17 August the earthquake in
İzmit
İzmit () is a district and the central district of Kocaeli province, Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental ...
(7.4
Mw) killed 17.480 people. In 12 November, another earthquake in the nearby city of
Düzce
Düzce is the capital city of Düzce Province, the eighty-first Province in Turkey. The population is 367,087 and in 2009 was 125,240, an increase from 61,878 in 1990.
Overview
Düzce is the eighty-first and the newest province of Turk ...
(7.2
Mw) killed 845 and injured 4.948.
Many
seismologist
Seismology (; from Ancient Greek σεισμός (''seismós'') meaning "earthquake" and -λογία (''-logía'') meaning "study of") is the scientific study of earthquakes and the propagation of elastic waves through the Earth or through other ...
agree that there is a very high chance for a 7 or higher magnitude earthquake before 2030; which will be caused by the breaking of the North Anatolian fault line under
Marmara Sea
The Sea of Marmara,; grc, Προποντίς, Προποντίδα, Propontís, Propontída also known as the Marmara Sea, is an inland sea located entirely within the borders of Turkey. It connects the Black Sea to the Aegean Sea via the ...
, just south of Istanbul.
Earthquake
Three days before the main earthquake, on 23 September, there was a 4.6-degree shock in the south-west of Istanbul.
Two hours before the earthquake, at 12:00 noon, a 2.9 earthquake took place in
Silivri
Silivri, formerly Selymbria (Greek: Σηλυμβρία), is a city and a district in Istanbul Province along the Sea of Marmara in Turkey, outside the urban core of Istanbul, containing many holiday and weekend homes for residents of the city. The ...
.
The earthquake happened at 13:59 local time at the western edge of the Kumburgaz section of North Anatolian Fault under the Sea of Marmara, at a depth of 6.99 km
as a strike-slip movement. Different sources states the magnitude as 5.7
Mw and 5.8
ML.
Over 300 aftershocks were reported after the main earthquake.
Damage
Schools and hospitals were evacuated after the earthquake.
Governor of Istanbul
The Governor of Istanbul ( Turkish: ''İstanbul Valiliği'') is the civil service state official responsible for both national government and state affairs in the Province of Istanbul. Similar to the Governors of the 80 other Provinces of Turkey ...
Ali Yerlikaya
ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib ( ar, عَلِيّ بْن أَبِي طَالِب; 600 – 661 CE) was the last of four Rightly Guided Caliphs to rule Islam (r. 656 – 661) immediately after the death of Muhammad, and he was the first Shia Imam ...
announced the schools were closed for the day.
AFAD suggested not to enter to the damaged buildings. A 4.1 magnitude aftershock was reported 25 minutes after the main shock.
The first announcement by the President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan stated 8 injured.
Later announcements stated a total of 43 injured mostly from panic, and one person with known heart illness dead due to a heart attack.
188 aftershocks with maximum magnitude of 4.1 were recorded after the earthquake.
A total of 473 buildings were reported as damaged to AFAD.
A minaret of Avcılar Hacı Ahmet Tükenmez mosque collapsed.
Three protected old buildings were damaged in Balat, and later demolished by the municipality later in the day.
Take-offs and landings to
Sabiha Gökçen Airport Sabiha is an Arabic word () meaning "Morning" and a female given name. In Urdu it (خوبصورت، گوری چٹی) refers to beautiful, and blonde hair. People with the name include:
People Given name
*Sabiha Sultan (1894–1971), Ottoman princes ...
were temporarily halted, but flight operations resumed after the runway was checked for potential damage and deemed safe.
AFAD reported damage to
walls of the city near İstanbul Biruni University, cracks in some buildings in some neighborhoods, damage in two buildings in
Sultangazi
Sultangazi is one of Istanbul's newer inner-city districts. It was founded as a district proper in 2009 by the "New Local Government Law" in Istanbul, Turkey. To the west are the neighbourhoods of Esenler and Başakşehir, Gaziosmanpaşa is to th ...
and
Eyüp
Eyüp () or Eyüpsultan is a district of the city of Istanbul, Turkey. The district extends from the Golden Horn all the way to the shore of the Black Sea. Eyüp is also the name of a prominent neighborhood and former village in the district, lo ...
, and evacuation of a building in
Şirinevler
Agios Ermolaos ( gr, Άγιος Ερμόλαος, tr, Şirinevler) is a village in Cyprus, 5 km east of Kontemenos. It is under the ''de facto'' control of Northern Cyprus.
All of the Agios Ermolaos Greek Cypriots fled before the Turkish a ...
.
Mobile phone coverage of
Türk Telekom
Türk Telekom is a state-owned Turkish telecommunications company. Türk Telekom was separated from Turkish Post (PTT) in 1995.
Türk Telekom Group provides integrated telecommunication services for PSTN, GSM, and wide-band Internet. The Türk ...
,
Turkcell
Turkcell İletişim Hizmetleri A.Ş. (''lit. Turkcell Communication Services'') (, ) is the leading mobile phone operator of Turkey, based in Istanbul. The company has 39,3 million subscribers as of September 2021. In 2015, the company's number of ...
, and
Vodafone
Vodafone Group Public limited company, plc () is a British Multinational corporation, multinational Telephone company, telecommunications company. Its registered office and Headquarters, global headquarters are in Newbury, Berkshire, England. It ...
were interrupted nationwide for some time after the earthquake, while mobile internet services and landlines were not affected.
See also
*
1894 Istanbul earthquake
The 1894 Istanbul earthquake occurred in the Çınarcık Basin or Gulf of Izmit in the Sea of Marmara on 10 July at 12:24pm. The earthquake had an estimated magnitude of 7.0. At least an estimated 1,349 people were killed in towns around the G ...
*
1999 Izmit earthquake
File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...
*
List of earthquakes in 2019
{{Infobox earthquakes in year, year=2019, location_map=Earth, location_map_places=
{{Location map~, Earth, mark = Green pog.svg, lat_deg = 28.261, lon_deg = 104.984
{{Location map~, Earth, mark = Green pog.svg, lat_deg = 32.970, lon_deg = 130.469
...
*
List of earthquakes in Turkey
This is a list of earthquakes in Turkey, including any notable historical earthquakes that have epicenters within the current boundaries of Turkey, or which caused significant effects in this area. Overall, the population in major cities like Ist ...
References
External links
*
{{Earthquakes in Turkey
2019 earthquakes
2019 in Turkey
Earthquakes in Turkey
September 2019 events in Turkey
Sea of Marmara
2019 disasters in Turkey