A large earthquake with a moment magnitude of 7.4 hit the northwestern part of Turkey on 17th August,
1999, causing serious and extensive damage in the area. The Duzce earthquake was occurred successively
on 12th November, 1999 along the North Anatolian fault. In this area, it has been continuously concerned
about the earthquakes that frequently occur. The main objective of this study is to estimate the seismic
risks for principal cities in Turkey.
In this study, damage to structures was calculated based on a vulnerability function, which is a
relationship between the ground-motion intensity and the damage probability. Damage to human was
measured as a function of building damage. The function was constructed based on the past earthquake
damage to human in Turkey. The economic losses were evaluated from the physical loss and production
losses. Following results were obtained as the conclusions. (1) If a large earthquake strikes Istanbul, the
occurrence of huge damage is predicted and the impact of such damage on Turkish economy is serious. It
affects the Turkish economy and finance seriously. (2) The retrofitting of building is effective to reduce
the casualties and the economic losses, since it prevents buildings from causing heavy damages.