Is Istanbul Airport ready for a possible earthquake: The geological structure has been changed

After the Kahramanmara centered earthquake disaster, the focus turned toward the expected earthquake in Istanbul. Istanbul's recordbreaking airport, IGA, announced that they are ready for a possible Istanbul earthquake and that the geological structure of the airport has been changed. It was stated that design and construction works were carried out within the framework of earthquake modeling so that all the buildings of the airport and the operations on the air side would not be interrupted in the event of a possible Istanbul earthquake.

After the Kahramanmaras-centered earthquake disaster, which caused great destruction in 11 provinces, all focuses were turned to the possible Istanbul earthquake. While frightening scenarios continue to be discussed about the extent of the destruction in Istanbul, the fate of Istanbul Airport, which is of critical importance for the region, is also a matter of curiosity.

So, is Istanbul Airport ready for a possible Istanbul earthquake?

In the statement made by IGA, it was explained that all design processes of Istanbul Airport were carried out in accordance with the earthquake and that they were ready for a possible Istanbul earthquake.

IGA announced the curious ones

In the statement, it was noted that the effects of possible earthquake scenarios in Istanbul on all facilities and structures planned at Istanbul Airport were taken into account during the design stages in 2015.

For this purpose, IGA has the Istanbul Airport Seismic Hazard Report prepared in May 2015, and in this process, IGA worked with national and international teams led by Boğaziçi University Earthquake Engineering Department Honorary Professor Mustafa Erdik, Earthquake Strengthening Association (DEGÜDER) Chairman Sinan Türkkan, and Ozyegin University Civil Engineering Founding Department Head Atilla Ansal. In the aforementioned report, site-specific seismic hazard assessment was carried out in order to determine the possible effects of any earthquake that may occur on the source faults for earthquake hazard and the earthquake loads to be used in the designs of the ground and buildings were determined specifically for Istanbul Airport.

It was founded on the operation of the principle of no damage at all

IGA Istanbul Airport Planning Assistant General Manager Polat, whose opinions were included in the statement, noted that the design and construction of Istanbul Airport were completed with the principle of uninterrupted service under the influence of the 475-yearlong repeated period DD2 earthquake, and said: “Our criterion is established on the fact that IGA Istanbul Airport should not be damaged at all after the expected Istanbul earthquake and the principle of uninterrupted use is functioning.

In the event of the expected Istanbul earthquake, we have carried out our design and construction works within the framework of our earthquake modeling in all our buildings, including the terminal, air traffic tower, energy center, RFF stations, and air-side runwayapron-taxiways, so that operations will not be disrupted. Before the airport was built, the geological structure had been changed and made suitable for airport operations, including possible earthquake loads.”