Urban Damage Assessment after theMw5.8 Silivri Earthquake: The Case of Istanbul City

Abstract

This chapter presents the results of an urban damage assessment after a moderate seismic event, the Mw 5.8 Silivri earthquake, which is the most significant earthquake to have struck the region since two major catastrophic earthquakes, the Mw 7.6 Kocaeli and the Mw 7.1 Düzce earthquakes. First, distribution maps for earthquake parameters and building damages using an appropriate ground motion prediction equation are created for İstanbul. Then, near-real-time hazard and damage distribution maps are generated using the data recorded during the event by the ground motion network established in Istanbul. Comparing the results of the two analyses reveals that the ground motion and damage distributions generated by the selected ground motion prediction equations (GMPEs) are more conservative than those generated by the network, and this is because the actual station data surpass the GMPE’s projections. This research concludes by emphasizing the significance of both GMPEs and densely installed ground motion station networks that capture real-time data during earthquakes and providing motivations for constructing or expanding such systems.