by the Turkish Chamber of Civil Engineers

WCCE would like to expresses its most profound condolences and sympathy to the Turkish Chamber Of Civil Engineers (TCCE) and the people of Turkey for this tragedy. Our heart goes out to all those affected by this tremendous disaster.

Two major earthquakes occurred on Monday, February 6, 2023, in Turkey. The first one, with a magnitude of 7.7, struck at 04.17 h, at Pazarcık district of Kahramanmaraş; the second earthquake with a magnitude of 7.6 struck Elbistan district of Kahramanmaraş at 13.24 h. Both earthquakes caused widespread collapsed and severely damaged residential and commercial buildings, public facilities, and infrastructure. The death toll is over 41.000 people already and rising, more than 80.000 were injured and the wounds and trauma caused is immeasurable.

Such unforeseen events always remind us that human beings are not the masters of the nature forces. But nevertheless civil engineering can contribute a lot in the prevention of such disasters. As civil engineers we shall do our best in reinforcing our role in the society in order to introduce more and more technical measures to diminish the consequences of earthquakes and protecting human lives at the same time.

The Turkish Chamber of Civil Engineers has released a pre-assessment report on these devastating earthquakes which can be consulted via the link below.

Pre-assessment report by TCCE