Jona Mae Z.

Victoriano

Turkey is located in a region that is shaken by severe earthquakes, and it occurs almost every
year. The earthquakes is caused by the Central Anatolian Fault Zone; one of the most active faults in the
world, which lies along the northern part of the country going from south east to northwest. This
earthquakes cause a lot of damage and death, and some of the reasons are the nature of the fault zone
and the settlement of many cities and highways on it. For example, the most serious damage occurred
in August 1999. The earthquake affected a big area in Turkey as wide as two kilometre and caused
approximately 20,000 death and millions dollars physical damage in three cities. This kind of calamity
can be prevented, and one possible method is the early warning system which was developed to be
aware of the upcoming shakings. Although this can only produce warnings as short as 10 second before
the shakings, but if it is accompanied with a well-planned rescue organization, the plan may help to
decrease, at least, the death rates due to the earthquakes.