A French researcher who has been monitoring sysmic activity in Turkey’s largest city, Istanbul, for 23 years said he expected a possible 7.6 magnitude earthquake.
French geophysicist Xavier Le Pichon said in an interview with the Turkish newspaper Haberturk that he had failed to explain the seriousness of the situation to the authorities and the population.
“The fault line in Turkey is the same kind of fault line as the fault line in California. They have learned how to build against faults. But in Turkey, people do the same thing they did in the past and expect different results. Let us build, but let us build like in California,” he said.
Le Pichon also shared his predictions about possible earthquakes in Istanbul.
“The different regions of Istanbul will be affected differently by the earthquake. There are many Turkish and Chinese researchers working on this issue. It is important that building codes are in line with these estimates and that rules and regulations are followed. Regulations that are not observed and followed by people are useless
He added:
“I believe that there will be one earthquake in the Marmara region, and it will be 7.6 magnitude. I know that all my colleagues do not think so. They think there will be 2 or 3 earthquakes. We will see who history will prove right.”
