AIR Izmit brochure v.

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100%

The overwhelming majority of buildings are of reinforced

80%
Typical Building
concrete construction, which is inexpensive. Steel con- Structural System
struction is almost nonexistent. There is only a handful of 60%
steel manufacturing facilities in the country and because
it is not produced in large quantities, the price of steel is 40%
quite high. Also, steel construction requires skilled labor,
20%
the supply of which is very limited.

0%
Another notable feature of buildings in Turkey is the Reinforced Masonry Wood Steel
nature of their ground floor usage. Close to 80% of build- Concrete Frame
ings have either open commercial space or garage facil-
The overwhelming majority of buildings are of reinforced concrete.
ities in their ground floors. The lack of adequate lateral

support that often accompanies such usage greatly

increases the vulnerability of the building and often
results in soft story failure.

Major Causes of Building Damage

A major contributor to the damage that the AIR team
observed in Turkey was simply poor seismic design. The
team repeatedly observed inadequate lateral support in
reinforced concrete structures.

Also evident was a lack of, or insufficient, reinforcement

detailing. Detailing refers to the presence and configura-
tion of reinforcing bars (re-bars) at joints, and particularly
at beam-column connections. These connections should
transfer laterally applied earthquake forces to vertical
columns. Observed problems included the inappropriate
configuration of bars, bars that were too widely spaced,
and an inappropriate number of horizontal re-bars.

In general, AIR engineers deemed reinforcement in both

beam and column to be inadequate for the proper con-
finement of concrete. Compounding the problem was
the quality of concrete, which was very poor. It is not
uncommon, in Turkey, for concrete to be mixed at the
construction site, without proper supervision. To make

continued on page 12

Many buildings in Turkish towns and cities have commercial or

garage space on their ground floors. Large openings, as for
windows or showrooms, can compromise lateral support.

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Shear Walls
The ability of shear wall structures to resist the lat-
eral forces imposed by earthquakes depends on
the structural interaction between the floor system
and the walls.

During an earthquake, the floors, or diaphragms,

transfer lateral loads directly to the columns, each
of which wants to move independently. These later-
al forces should be resisted by shear walls that act
to bind the columns together and force them to
behave as a single system. The loads are then
transferred to the foundation.

The AIR post-disaster field investigation team

repeatedly saw evidence of inadequate lateral sup-
port, including the lack of shear walls in many of the
(non-moment-resisting frame) reinforced concrete
structures that had suffered damage in the quake. Shear Wall Action

Lateral Force

Ground Motion

Many collapsed structures, like this and the one above, show virtually no
evidence of lateral support systems, including shear walls.

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the mixture more mal-
leable and thus easier to
spread, an incorrect
ratio of materials was
often used, in particular,
too little cement and
too much w a t e r.
Furthermore, mixed in
open tubs, water con-
tent will be quite differ-
ent in the morning than
later in the day. Such
nonuniformity of materi-
als re d u c e s their
strength and increases
the vulnerability of the
buildings in which they
are used.
In addition, unwashed
sand extracted from the
sea is frequently used in
the mix. When sea sand
is used without washing,
Inadequate
detailing at
beam-column
joints was
responsible for
many collapses.
12 A I R S P E C I A L R E P O R T
the large chloride content diminishes the concrete
strength and causes corrosion in re-bars. In addition, the
weakened concrete can crumble away and expose re-
bars to air and moisture, causing rust. Rusting not only
weakens the reinforcing bars, but also reduces their sur-
face area and thus their effective area of reinforcement,
thereby reducing bond between concrete and bars.
Another problem is that the concrete used in Turkish con-
struction contains large numbers of sea shells. On receiv-
ing images sent back from the team of broken chunks of
concrete revealing sizeable sea shells, Dr. Kadakal remi-
nisced that, as a child in Turkey, he and his friends
collected shells not from the beach, but rather from local
construction sites.
One of the most common types of structural failure
observed throughout the area was failure of the soft
story. Since ground floors are commonly used for com-
mercial purposes, they often require glass or other light
exteriors as opposed to the heavy infill walls used in
upper stories. If not adequately designed to compensate
for compromised lateral support, there will be a sudden
change in stiffness between the ground and upper
continued on page 14
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Soft story failure was perhaps the most common type of structural failure observed by the AIR team.
Below, an entire block of buildings suffered the same fate. Commercial space and garages compromise
lateral support in the ground floor, leading to collapse.

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stories. This so-called soft story becomes particularly

vulnerable in an earthquake.

Another result of the housing boom and the high price of

land, is the alteration of buildings, and particularly the
addition of upper stories, sometimes long after the orig-
inal structure was built. The increased gravity loading
leads to additional lateral loading at the time of the earth-
quake, which the original structure was not designed to
withstand. In addition, in some cases, the structural
system of the addition is quite different from that of the
original. Earthquakes attack points of discontinuity.
The presence of sea shells in lieu of gravel was frequently observed in
concrete, weakening the mix.
The AIR team also observed damage that resulted from
pounding. Pounding occurs when two buildings in close
proximity to, or abutting each
other, oscillate at different fre-
quencies, phases, and modes.
The repeated impact, or pounding,
can cause significant damage or
even collapse. There were also fre-
quent instances of collateral dam-
age resulting from the collapse of
one building onto another building
that would otherwise have
remained structurally intact.

continued on page 16

Structural alterations can lead to

building vulnerability. Here, steel
frame upper stories were later added
to a reinforced concrete first floor.

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Pounding and Impact by

Neighboring Buildings
The response of buildings to lateral forces depends
mainly on their configuration and natural period,
which is defined as the time it takes for a building
to complete an entire cycle of motion, starting from
its initial position and returning again to its initial
position.

Buildings of different configurations and different

materials may oscillate at different natural frequen-
cies. If they are sufficiently close to each other that
they impact, both may suffer significant structural
damage that, had they been set further apart, might
have been avoided.

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Liquefaction
Damage to buildings can also occur when the ground
beneath them fails, causing them to deform, sink, or tilt.
water table
When seismic waves, primarily shear waves, pass
through water-saturated, loosely packed sandy soils,
fine sand layer
contact pressure between the individual grains is
temporarily lost. The grains become more densely con- gravely sandy layer
figured, causing pore pressure to increase. If drainage is
inadequate, what was once solid ground now behaves as
a dense fluid, incapable of supporting the buildings
above. Structures that may have survived unscathed
from the effects of shaking can be left tilting. When build- town was literally little more than a marketplace built on
ings tilt in liquefied soils, they may remain structurally an island. Over time, the town expanded outward onto
intact, but are unusable and unsalvageable. landfill. But the water table remained high and structures
were built without adequate support.
Damage due to liquefaction was widespread in continued on page 18

Adapazari, which means “island bazaar.” Originally, the

The results of liquefaction in Adapazari.

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Sea Inundation and

Submarine Landslide
Plate movement resulted in the encroachment of the
Marmara Sea some 25 to 30 meters into the city of
Golcuk. In the nearby city of Digrmandere, part of the
waterfront area simply slid into the sea, taking with it a
five story hotel. In both cases, the coastline was perma-
nently changed.

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Flooding
Liquefaction is one type of ground failure. Landslide is
another. One dramatic instance of landslide — in this
case, submarine landslide — occurred in the city of
Digrmandere. Parts of the waterfront area simply slid into
the Marmara Sea.
Deformation on a larger scale took place in Golcuk.
Tectonic plate movement resulted in large portions of the
city to be inundated by sea water. Buildings and city
streets were suddenly and without warning submerged.
The coastline in both areas has undergone a permanent
transformation.
Fire Following
Damage caused by earthquake-induced fires was not
widespread in Turkey. There were a few fire ignitions in
residential areas, but they were quite limited in scope and
were brought under quick control. Most residential
structures are made of fire-resistant materials, such as
Fires at the petroleum plant in Korfez were brought under control briefly, then raged for three straight days.
18 A I R S P E C I A L R E P O R T
reinforced concrete. Furthermore, natural gas is not typ-
ically piped in to households in the smaller cities and
towns of Turkey, but rather stored in high pressure can-
isters. Except for the major cities of Istanbul and Ankara,
where the use of gas is being encouraged to control air
pollution, coal and oil are the preferred energy sources
for heating purposes. The fact that the earthquake
occurred in August was fortunate in that household
heating was not a major risk factor. Further mitigating the
risk of fire in residential areas was the fact that the earth-
quake occurred at three in the morning, a time when few
people were likely to have been cooking.
Only two major fires broke out in the aftermath of the
Izmit earthquake. One was the result of a chimney top-
pling into a vat of crude oil at a petroleum plant in Korfez;
the fire raged for three days. The other was in a shoe
factory in the Istanbul district of Bagcilar.
continued on page 20
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Industrial Facilities
The Izmit earthquake occurred in one of Turkey’s most heavi-
ly industrialized regions. Despite the fact that these are engi-
neered facilities and subject to strict quality controls, many
suffered heavy damage.

Only about 40% of industrial facilities carry earthquake cover

(the figure is only about 10% for residential buildings), and
most of these are not insured against business interruption.

The Turkish government is trying to extract itself from the

insurance business by making earthquake insurance mandatory,
but political opposition is strong.

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Summary
The majority of the buildings that suffered damage in the
Izmit earthquake were engineered buildings. Most were
built after the introduction of the 1975 seismic code. It
quickly became apparent to the AIR post-disaster team,
however, that the problem lay not with the quality of the
code, but rather with its enforcement. Much of the dam-
age, and certainly most of the deaths, could have been
avoided had there been compliance with seismic code.
Overall, the investigation revealed a lack of attention to
seismic design, poor construction, lack of regulatory
supervision, poor quality building materials, and inade-
quate land use planning.
In developing earthquake models for regions around the
world, AIR scientists and engineers must take into
account differences in the seismicity and geology
between regions, local site and soil conditions, and local
construction practices and seismic codes. Post-disaster
field investigations afford the opportunity for a close-up
examination of these issues and often reveal problems
that might otherwise go undiscovered. Similarities —
sometimes obvious, sometimes more subtle — also
exist between regions and events, enabling the transfer
of knowledge about one region to another.
The AIR post-disaster survey team was in Turkey for over
two weeks in the aftermath of this earthquake, collecting
valuable data and information. The enormous quantity of
first hand information that was collected and subse-
quently analyzed is incorporated into the AIR earthquake
models. By incorporating the most recent scientific data
and research results, AIR is able to provide clients with
the most reliable loss estimates available on the
market today.

There is no doubt
that major earth-
quakes will continue
to occur in Turkey.
In the meantime,
lessons can be
learned from the
Izmit earthquake —
lessons that, if cou-
pled with appropri-
ate mitigation strate-
gies, can save lives
and property.

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Soft story failure. Golcuk, Turkey

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B E T T E R T E C H N O L O G Y
B E T T E R D A T A
B E T T E R D E C I S I O N S

Acknowledgments

Research Engineers: Dr. Mohammad Zolfaghari; Dr. Ugur Kadakal; Dr. Ian Nunez; Dr. Kemal Beyen,
Kandilli Observatory and Earthquake Research Institute; Hafez Keypour, Kandilli Observatory and
Earthquake Research Institute, Dr. Nozar G. Kishi.

Editorial Committee: Beverly Porter; Virginia Foley; Dr. Ugur Kadakal; Dr. Nozar Kishi.

Photographs were taken by the AIR post-disaster survey team.

AIR
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Boston, MA 02199
Phone: 617-267-6645
Fax: 617-267-8284 Visit our website at: www. air–boston.com

© 1999 AIR, Inc. All rights reserved.