Investigation of damage caused by destructive earthquakes on the Eastern Anatolian fault line in the last 50 years

Since Turkey is in a tectonically active region, earthquakes occur frequently. The tectonic character is mainly due to the ongoing collision between the Eurasian Plate and the Arabian Plate. Most of the country lies on the Anatolian Plate, which is bounded by two main strike-slip fault zones called the North Anatolian Fault System (NAF) and the East Anatolian Fault System (EAFS). One of these fault systems, the Eastern Anatolian fault system has faced many destructive earthquakes throughout history and therefore the region has been the subject of many studies. The devastating earthquakes that occurred have caused many material and moral damages in the region. Earthquakes have created great obstacles to the development of the region and reminded us that precautions should be taken. The region was shaken by the 1971 Bingöl, 1976 Çaldıran, 1998 Adana, 2003 Bingöl, 2010 Kovancılar. 2011 Van and finally 2020 Sivrice earthquakes. These earthquakes caused many material and moral damages. Knowing the damages caused by these earthquakes is important in order to prevent possible losses. Keywords: Eastern Anatolian fault system, structural damage, earthquake