Earthquake risk mitigation in households: Istanbul case

Istanbul is one of the largest urban agglomerations in the world which also faces to high seismicity due to the North Anatolian Fault. The recent devastating earthquake that hit Kocaeli in 1999 is considered as an early... [ view full abstract ]

Istanbul is one of the largest urban agglomerations in the world which also faces to high seismicity due to the North Anatolian Fault. The recent devastating earthquake that hit Kocaeli in 1999 is considered as an early warning to Istanbul. After the 1999 earthquake, construction, urbanization and administrative systems have been re-organized to enhance urban resilience against all natural hazards. Furthermore, public awareness campaigns and training programs have provided with a synergistic platform to bring all stakeholders together to reduce earthquake risks. In 2008 and 2013, two comprehensive surveys were conducted in Istanbul to evaluate risk perception of citizens. The results of the studies show that there are improvements in taking precautions to reduce earthquake risk in households. In this paper, household risk reduction activities are evaluated according to different socio-economic status of the respondents.