The Carbon Cost of the Buildings Destroyed in Yalova in the 1999 Marmara Earthquake

Abstract

Natural disasters have some environmental impacts as well as economic impacts. For example, when disasters such as earthquakes are not prevented, efforts must be made to minimize the economic and environmental costs that may arise. Although the interest of society and governments in the economic consequences of the earthquake is more intense, environmental effects should also be calculated, and the significance of the situation should be shown. Herein, it estimated the CO2 emissions caused by debris transport from the 1999 Marmara earthquake in Turkey in Yalova, a province of Turkey, and the reconstruction of the destroyed structures. As a result of the calculations, it has been found that 2031 x 10 3 tons of CO2 were released during the transport of debris and reconstruction of 9462 building that was destroyed before the end of their life in Yalova. Moreover, 42% of these emissions are caused by concrete alone. In addition, this value corresponds to 0.73% of the CO2 emitted in Turkey in 1999.