Determination and classification of the amount of demolition wastes released as a result of Kahramanmaraş earthquakes: Nurdağı example

The earthquake, which is an inevitable fact from past to present and has caused destruction many times, shook our country with a magnitude of Mw: 7.7 at 04:17 on February 6, 2023. The epicenter of this earthquake was Pazarcık (Kahramanmaraş) and 9 hours later, another earthquake with a magnitude of Mw: 7.6 occurred at the epicenter in Elbistan (Kahramanmaraş). While the effects of these two devastating earthquakes were still continuing, another earthquake with a magnitude of Mw: 6.4 occurred on February 20, 2023 at 20:04, centered in Yayladağı (Hatay). As a result of the earthquakes, 50,783 people lost their lives and 37,984 buildings collapsed. As a result of demolition, construction and demolition wastes were generated which are difficult to control. The aim of this thesis is to estimate the amount of construction and demolition waste generated by these earthquakes. Various countries in the world located on fault lines have established programs to estimate the damage that may occur as a result of earthquakes. Within the scope of the thesis, by applying the methodology steps of the HAZUS software created by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, in which building inventory information is processed, the building inventory of Nurdağı district, one of the regions most damaged by the earthquake, was examined and field observations were made. Buildings were classified and calculations given in the methodology were made. As a result of the calculations, it was estimated that a total of 1.670.758 tons of demolition waste was generated in Nurdağı. It is estimated that 939.128 tons of this amount consists of reinforced concrete and steel elements and 731.630 tons of brick, wood and other elements. The recoverability of construction and demolition wastes to the national economy was investigated and comments were made on the recycling and reduce of these wastes. The amount of demolition waste estimated by the program was found to be consistent with the total amount of demolition waste generated in the region. It has been determined that the estimation calculations that can be made for the future with HAZUS, which is accepted as one of the most comprehensive disaster management software available in different countries, can serve as an example in determining the measures that can be taken before and after disasters.