Industry Preparedness for Earthquakes and Earthquake-Triggered Hazmat Accidents in the 1999 Kocaeli Earthquake

Abstract

In this study, we report on the results of a random mail survey of 400 industrial facilities affected by the Turkey earthquake of 17 August 1999. The survey asked questions concerning damage and economic losses, hazardous materials and hazardous materials releases during the earthquake, and risk management and emergency response practices for hazmats prior to and after the earthquake. The study results indicate a high toll on industrial facilities in the region with more than 56% of industrial facilities reporting structural damage and over 60% reporting economic losses. A significantly higher number of industrial facilities built prior to the introduction of the first seismic building codes in 1975 suffered damage. In a logistic regression, older facilities and facilities owned by multinational firms were found to be more likely to suffer damages than Turkish-owned facilities or newer facilities. Eight percent of facilities handling hazardous materials suffered an earthquake-triggered hazardous materials release. Preparedness for earthquake-triggered hazardous materials releases prior to the earthquake was low, but increased significantly in the aftermath of the earthquake, especially for those facilities that had suffered earthquake damage.