Turkey marks 21st anniversary of Marmara earthquake

By Sengul Azbay and Onur Orhan

KOCAELI/SAKARYA, Turkey (AA) - Turkey on Monday marked 21 years since the devastating 1999 earthquake in Turkey's Marmara region which took some 17,000 lives on Aug. 17.

According to information obtained by Anadolu Agency, the 7.4-magnitude-earthquake, which occurred at 3.02 a.m. [0002GMT] and continued for 45 seconds, jolted Istanbul, Kocaeli, Sakarya and Yalova provinces.

A total of 17,480 people died in the quake and around 45,000 were injured, according to a 2010 parliamentary investigation commission report.

Nearly 16 million people were affected by the earthquake and some 200,000 people left homeless.

A total of 66,441 houses and 10,901 workplaces collapsed, while 285,111 houses and 42,902 workplaces were damaged.

Of the quakes that occurred between 1900 and 2009, the Marmara earthquake caused the sixth-largest economic losses -- an estimated $20 billion -- according to the Emergency Events Database’s website.

The effects of the earthquake described as the "disaster of the century" were dissipated through various efforts made over the past years.

Several ministries, the Housing Development Administration of Turkey (TOKI) and other institutions carried out urban transformation projects in the affected areas.

Thousands of new houses were built by TOKI, municipalities and the private sector in line with earthquake-resistant regulations.

Lightly damaged buildings, especially schools and hospitals, were strengthened against earthquakes.

Many provinces which bore the brunt of the earthquake have now become industrial hubs thanks to policy shifts in the right direction.

Kocaeli, which plays an important role in the Turkish manufacturing industry, has greatly increased its exports in the last 21 years after the earthquake.

Sakarya, which experienced great loss due to the quake, has achieved notable success in both urban transformation and industrial moving. Its economy has grown 33-fold since the earthquake.

*Writing by Gozde Bayar