Evaluation of earthquake-related damages on the reinforced concrete buildings due to the february 6, 2023, Kahramanmaraş-Türkiye earthquakes

Abstract

On February 6, 2023, two powerful quakes (with magnitudes of Mw7.7 and Mw7.6) struck the Eastern Anatolian Fault Zone (EAFZ), separated by around nine hours. Both earthquakes occurred in the Pazarcık and Elbistan districts of Kahramanmaraş province and were felt in many countries surrounding them. In addition, these quakes resulted in substantial losses of life and property in 11 provinces along the EAFZ. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the ground motions and discuss Reinforced Concrete (RC) buildings’ performance in Hatay, one of the most earthquake-affected provinces. On-site investigations revealed that many buildings were damaged in the first Pazarcık earthquake (Mw7.7), and many of them collapsed following the second Elbistan earthquake (Mw7.6). Furthermore, many of the defects uncovered by scientists in previous earthquakes (e.g., Van, Izmir or Duzce) were also observed in these earthquakes. The study also recommended revising the latest Turkish response spectrum for the earthquake region.