Structural engineering aspects of the June 27, 1998 Adana–Ceyhan (Turkey) earthquake

On June 27, 1998, an earthquake measuring 5.9 on the Richter scale rocked the Adana–Ceyhan region of Turkey, an important industrialized and agricultural area of about two million population. It resulted in 145 deaths, more than 1,500 injuries and significant damage to more than ten thousand structures. In this paper, the observed structural damages are analyzed in view of the strong ground motion characteristics, the geological conditions and the building codes. Geotechnical aspects such as soil liquefaction and site amplification effects that considerably influenced the damage patterns at many areas are also briefly discussed. It is believed that the information presented herein is important to the engineering community as the observed seismic performance of the structures in this earthquake gives a good indication as to the aseismic strength of the whole Turkish building stock.