A powerful earthquake struck north-western Turkey in the early hours, rupturing a stretch of the North Anatolian Fault near the city of İzmit and the Sea of Marmara. It reached a moment magnitude of about 7.6 and shook Kocaeli, Sakarya, Yalova, Istanbul and neighbouring provinces, where densely populated towns and poorly built apartment blocks collapsed. More than seventeen thousand people died according to official figures, and hundreds of thousands were left homeless. Industrial sites, including a major refinery at Tüpraş, were damaged and caught fire. The disaster led Turkey to tighten building codes and its earthquake insurance system, and it raised lasting concern about the risk to Istanbul from the same fault system.
Before and after
- 29 July 1999Death of Anatoliy Solovyanenko
- from 30 July 1999 to 27 September 1999Batken Conflict
- from 2 August 1999 to 14 September 1999War of Dagestan
- 11 August 1999Solar eclipse of August 11, 1999
- 17 August 19991999 İzmit earthquake
- 23 August 1999Release of Blogger
- from 26 August 1999 to 16 April 2009Second Chechen War
- 31 August 1999Construction of Petronas Towers
- 7 September 1999Discovery of 118401 LINEAR
More in Earth & climate
The era
This moment belongs to the Contemporary world (1945 CE to today), the world since 1945. You can also browse everything in the 20th century.