299 Effect of Building Type on Risk of Death Following the 1992 Earthquake in Turkey

TL;DRAbstract

Introduction: During the earthquake (EQ) that struck Erzincan, Turkey in March 1992, many mid-rise masonry and concrete buildings (MRB) collapsed. An important reason for the collapse was the frequent use of the first story for commercial stores, causing an open, "soft" story. Engineering reports hypothesized that, in particular, such building collapses were lethal. In view of the increasing use of such buildings in urban areas, a further examination was conducted of the relation between building type and lethality following the EQ. Methods: Geophysical and structural information was gathered from official records, independent engineering reports, and visual inspection. The site of victim deaths was determined from official records. Further information was collected for a sample of deaths through stratified, random interviews of eye witnesses. Of this sample, the subset who died in MRB (n = 23) was compared to a randomized control group who survived MRB (n = 28) collapse.

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