Field reconnaissance on seismic performance and functionality of Turkish industrial facilities affected by the 2023 Kahramanmaras earthquake sequence

Abstract

On February 6th, 2023, an earthquake sequence with moment magnitudes (Mw) of 7.8 and 7.5 rocked southern and eastern Turkiye, affecting 15 million-residents and a significant portion of Turkiye’s industrial community. In the days following the earthquake sequence, a reconnaissance team was organized to visit the industrial districts in the five provinces of the earthquake region. While performance and functionality of 131 industrial facilities were inspected using the proposed data-collection protocols, 18 interviews with industrial representatives were conducted. The inspection and interview results show that the earthquake sequence had a significant impact on industrial facilities, resulting in enormous economic losses and business disruptions lasting three months to two years. While the sequence imposed severe demands on the facilities, their poor performance is mostly due to discrepancies between seismic design code requirements and building practice. The most affected facilities were found to be those built before 2000, as well as precast reinforced concrete structures with pin-supported roofs. As a result, these types of facilities in earthquake-prone areas are strongly advised to be re-evaluated. Furthermore, various nonstructural building components, such as claddings and equipment/machinery, were substantially damaged at the majority of the assessed sites, causing lengthy interruptions. To reduce future seismic losses and disruptions to industry, the proposed protocols and findings of this field study can be utilized to support further resilience studies on the development of business continuity plans and risk management approaches for industrial facilities.