February 6, 2023 Earthquakes and Preliminary Assessment of Building Damage Based on Field Surveys

February 6 earthquakes have taken its place among the most destructive earthquakes of the last century, due to extend of the damage, complexity of the source mechanism and being felt in a wide geography. Eleven cities were declared as disaster region by the administration. The source mechanism of the 6 February earthquakes, the characterization of earthquake records, and the rapid damage assessment carried out for 11 cities in the disaster area offers important findings and valuable data for engineering society. The aim of this study is to share the preliminary findings about the seismo-tectonic, strong ground motion characteristics of the earthquake records of the 6 February 2023 earthquakes and the building damage observation. Provinces that were declared as disaster region is periodically visited since the second day of the earthquake. The strong ground motion data obtained in the heavily damaged region have been tried to be explained briefly within the scope of this study. The compiled data were obtained by making use of the existing building inventory of the building type prevailing in the region, considering the reconnaissance trips of the author, institutional reports, press releases of the authorized institutions. When the damage distribution of city centers is examined, it is determined that the dominant structural system is medium-rise reinforced concrete buildings that have received engineering service, whereas predominant structural systems were low-rise reinforced concrete, or masonry buildings that have not received engineering service in rural areas. Compared to the past experiences in damage assessment, it has been observed that the field survey teams, who participated in the training given by the academicians, performed a relatively more meticulous and rapid work. In addition to traditional residential buildings, the comparison of conventional earthquake-resistant hospital buildings and seismically isolated hospital buildings were examined in a systematic way.