Investigation of the relationship between building damages of the settlements in Amanos during the 6 february 2023 earthquakes and geological-geomorphological parameters

The destructive earthquakes centered in Kahramanmaraş on February 6, 2023, resulted in over 50,000 casualties and damage to more than 500,000 buildings. Termed as the "Disaster of the Century" and affecting Türkiye and Syria, the most severely impacted area was the Amanos Mountains. This study aims to understand the influence of geological and geomorphological features on building damages using Pearson correlation and binary logistic regression analysis (AUC=0.658) on 331,061 building data in the region. The research reveals a quantitative relationship between altitude and building damage. It was observed that buildings within the range of 100-200 meters exhibited the highest damage rate (38.1%), whereas damages significantly decreased (below 25%) for buildings located above 600 meters in altitude. Similarly, a strong correlation between slope and damage was found; buildings on flat terrain (0-10 degrees) showed a damage rate of 27.91%, which consistently decreased with increasing slope. Aspect also played a significant role, with buildings facing east exhibiting the highest damage rate (33.11%). Moreover, significant effects of different lithology classes on the rates of damaged buildings were identified. The proximity parameter to ruptured fault surfaces also influenced damage severity, with very high damage rates observed up to 4,800 meters. It was understood that this parameter was effective up to 10,000 meters, with a gradual decrease in effectiveness between 4,800 and 10,000 meters. These findings underscore the importance of integrating geological and geomorphological factors into urban planning and risk reduction strategies in high seismic risk areas. By providing valuable insights into the complex interaction between geological and geomorphological features and building vulnerability, this study offers significant contributions to post-earthquake site selection and seismic risk management.