The Faculty of Arts and Humanities of our university organized a panel titled “History of Istanbul Earthquakes” to examine the disasters in the urban history of Istanbul and to draw attention to the importance of disaster risk reduction. The panel, which was held at IMU Ziraat Bank Library on May 04, 2023, was moderated by the faculty members of Istanbul Medeniyet University History Department.
In the first part of the panel, Asst.Prof.Dr. Fatih GÜRCAN discussed the earthquakes in Istanbul from the foundation of Istanbul until the end of the 18th century. He stated that Istanbul was exposed to many earthquakes in different centuries, some of which caused great damage to the city and residential areas. In his speech, GÜRCAN stated that earthquakes were survived with little loss due to the fact that the building stock in old Istanbul was mostly wooden, whereas the fire disaster caused greater destruction due to wooden building designs. GÜRCAN emphasized the importance of the ground and stated that the destructiveness of historical Istanbul earthquakes was related to the suitability of the ground for construction rather than proximity to the epicenter of the earthquake. GÜRCAN pointed out that these disasters also caused great damage to the cultural heritage of Istanbul. He revealed which artifacts and regions in the Historical Peninsula were more damaged by earthquakes and how the post-earthquake activities were reflected in archival records.
Prof.Dr. Vahdettin ENGİN started his speech by talking about the 1894 earthquake that took place during the reign of Abdülhamid II. Stating that although this earthquake was a very strong tremor, it was not emphasized much, ENGİN stated that the Grand Bazaar suffered the greatest damage in the 1894 earthquake and that approximately 1/8 of the buildings in Istanbul at that time were damaged in various dimensions. In his speech, ENGİN also mentioned the earthquake of 6.4 magnitude that occurred in Marmara Island in 1935 and also affected Istanbul and the earthquakes of 1963. Stating that the belief among the public that earthquakes will occur on Tuesday and that this day is dangerous is not in line with the facts, ENGİN also explained the origin of expressions such as “Tuesday shakes” and “Tuesday is bad luck”.
At the end of the panel, the participants answered questions from the audience.
