The head of the Boğaziçi University Kandilli Observatory Quake Research Institute, professor Haluk Özener, said the much-feared and speculated Istanbul quake that may be triggered by the major Marmara Fault line should not be ignored but nor should a possible earthquake measuring 7.0 on the Richter scale somewhere else in Turkey.
He said the fault lines in Yedisu and Ovacık in the east of the country have been dormant for a long time and a huge earthquake there would not be a surprise. However, the monetary and humanitarian damage caused by a quake near Istanbul would be immeasurably more destructive than in the less populated east, he added.
He also explained the system at the observatory was able to be notified five to seven seconds before the quake struck Istanbul. "This is not enough for ordinary people to take action.
It is just enough to stop the Marmaray underwater train and the natural gas network." He said a similar system was active in Japan but because the fault line was 300 kilometers away from populated areas, rather than the 15 to 20 kilometers in Istanbul, people could be alerted 1.5 to two minutes before the major quake wave struck.
