Failures of structures during the January 24, 2020, Sivrice (Elazig) Earthquake in Turkey

Abstract

On January 24, 2020, a severe earthquake of magnitude Mw 6.8 hit the Sivrice district of Elazig province at 20:55 (17:55 GMT) local time. This earthquake caused significant damages, partial or total collapses in many buildings with 41 fatalities. A few days after the earthquake, our reconnaissance team visited city centers, districts and villages in the region and, then, carried out an investigation and assessments. The results and suggestions obtained after the earthquakes are very important in designing earthquake-resistant structures and reducing the casualties. This study aims to identify deficiencies and reveal the causes of damages by examining the failure mechanisms of structures. Firstly, the effect of the destructive seismic event is discussed and the historical earthquakes in the region are summarized. Then, strong ground motion data and the structural damages observed from different building types are evaluated. The damage patterns and failure mechanisms are analyzed and interpreted based on the Turkish Earthquake Codes.