Job Discussion Forums

[imisssaitama]

Is Izmir especially vunerable to earthquakes? How is earthquake preparedness in Turkey generally?

[Dedicated]

I think 50 out of 81 provinces in Turkey and all of the most populous areas are situated in 1st or 2nd degree earthquake risk zones. That's about 70% of the population and includes Izmir.

The last major earthquake in Izmir was back in 1928 and was 6.5 on the Richter scale.

When I lived in Turkey, earthquake readiness and preparation were sadly lacking considering that most of the country lies on the North Anatolian fault line. The possibility of a major earthquake is a reality.
Defects in construction and sub-standard building materials exacerbate the problem. As people have not been trained in what to do, the main problem is panic. I remember in Ankara when there was a minor tremor of about 3.5, people rushed screaming into the street and nobody knew what to do. This is in stark contrast to Japan.

I believe there are now plans to teach earthquake preparedness in primary schools -perhaps somebody there now could confirm this.

[PC Parrot]

Google 'turkey earthquake zones' and the maps alone should tell you the story.

The really big ones occur on the North Anatolian fault line - this accounts for the huge quakes in Erzerum and Istanbul.

After the Istanbul quake over a decade ago, there was a greater awareness about earthquakes and earthquake survival, and many people even had earthquake bags at the ready. Today, however, everyone has gone back to the old ways.

Having said that, building codes should be more rigorously enforced than in the past, so rent a modern flat. You can always ask to see the earthquake certificate for the building. I doubt you would see one, as many people don't bother to obtain them, but if one were to be produced you could feel pretty confident with your building.

There are a few simple things you can do yourself to ensure you live and work in a safe building:

1) First, make sure the ground on which the building is built is safe. Check out a geological map of the local area. Google 'izmir deprem haritasi'. The colour coded maps are self explanatory.

2) Second, make sure the building isn't a high risk type. Do a google search for things to look for in the building itself.

[massiveg]

yeah but on a tefler wage you live and work where you can. who can afford to live and not work in a dangerous place.

[PC Parrot]

Now, now massiveg. As surprising as it might be, these days, not all young TEFLers want to live in a craphole to maximise the cash they can piss away down the bar.

Some of them are happy to spend a third to a half of their salary on accomodation. I don't know Izmir but that could well be enough for them to live in a small place without worrying about it collapsing on top of them.

[lucia79]

Izmir had some earthquakes in 2012. They were in the ocean off the coast of Foca and Karaburun. We felt aftershocks at work. Some of the teachers were worried, but if you were on the ground floor you couldn't feel a thing. In Izmir there are earthquake preparedness seminars you can attend. They are put on by Akut.

http://www.akut.org.tr/

[sixthchild]

Generally ızmir is a pretty safe city for tremors, the largest one I remember was a 6 pointer and rattled the furniture a bit but did no structural damage worthy of note. There is a fair bit of sesmic activity which seems to ease off the pressure so you don't get the dangerous buildup of pressure as in other parts of Turkey.

[massiveg]

a third of a tefler wage in Izmir cannot be more than a few hundred pounds