According to the IB definitions below, was the Turkish earthquake a hazard event or a disaster?
Use the reading to help answer the question.
The Turkish Earthquake, happened on 17th August, 1999 at 3 am, had a magnitude of 7.4 and the epicenter close to the industrial center of Izmit. Whether the earthquake was a hazard event or a disaster depends on how much help Turkey needed.
The earthquake was surely a hazard event because it caused economic, environmental and social disorders in Turkey. The oil refinery, stocking 70000 tons of oil was on fire and all the resources were burned out. Not only resources but also the refinery poured out large quantities of pollution into the air, the water and the land. A chlorine plant in Yalova had chemical leakage into the environment as well. Food supplies as well as buildings were destroyed in most of towns around the quake center, causing socio-economic disruptions. An estimation of 65000 buildings in Yalova were destroyed and people are all staying in the streets. Only 60 percent of adults and 95 percent of children survived in the earthquake, causing population demographic change.
