In the 19th of August year 1999, a powerful earthquake struck the sleeping town of urbanized Izmit.
Consisting mainly of Turkey, the Anatolian Plate is pushed westwards about 2 to 2.5 cm annually, since it is squashed between the Eurasian Plate on the North and the African and Arabian Plate on the South. So, when the Anatolian plate moved down the result is the earthquake . The earthquake was measured up to 7.4 magnitude, one of the powerful phenomenon in the Turkey.
The impact was so huge that there was a tsunami in the gulf of Izmit (Marmara Sea). Tsunami waves occurred every few minutes. An estimated number of fatalities is about 17 000 and 44 000 injured. 120 thousand poorly-constructed houses were left beyond repair, houses destroyed , buildings collapsed even those built to withstand earthquake . The destruction of an oil refinery caused a blazing fire, killing several people. The cold weather increased the death toll , due to the fact that to victims lived in poor conditions in the shelter. Istanbul , 50 miles away from Izmit , had destruction of buildings. Some highways in the nearby cities buckled, cars crashed into one another.
The prime minister of Turkey visited the city to see the condition of the victims , he thought that the earthquake was the worst he ever saw. He called for international help to evacuate the victims and save those stuck in the rubbles.
For lower death toll, I think the government could build more buildings to withstand the earthquake . with advanced science , they should have an earthquake alarm system so residents can escape in the nick of time . the government can organize a group to educate families especially the young on how to be properly prepare for earthquake beforehand.


1. http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/august/17/newsid_2534000/2534245.stm
2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1999_%C4%B0zmit_earthquake
3. http://www.drgeorgepc.com/Tsunami1999Turkey.html
4. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_20th_century_earthquakes
5. http://earth.rice.edu/MTPE/geo/geosphere/hot/earthquakes/1003_earthquakes.html
6. http://www.cseg.ca/publications/recorder/2000/06jun/jun00-turkey-earthquake.pdf