Seismic isolation devices prevent damage in four hospitals

KAHRAMANMARAŞ

Four hospitals, where seismic isolation devices were used during the construction, were not damaged at all during the devastating earthquakes in southern Türkiye.

In both deadly quakes, Elbistan State Hospital in the epicenter district of the second major quake, Hatay Dörtyol State Hospital, Malatya Battalgazi State Hospital and Maternity and Children’s Hospital in Malatya did not suffer even the slightest damage thanks to the seismic isolation devices placed in their columns and became a shelter for quake victims.

Seismic isolation devices placed in the column or base of buildings absorb the power of the shocks from earthquakes of magnitude 5 and above while providing the ability to cut the contact between the earthquake and the structure.

Some state hospitals in Osmaniye, Adıyaman and Kahramanmaraş, whose constructions are about to be completed, were not damaged thanks to the system that protects the buildings by reducing the severity of the tremor by five times.

“After 2013, the seismic devices, which are mandatory for hospitals in the first and second-degree earthquake zones, almost serve as insurance,” civil engineer Ümit Kaçmaz stated.

“Seismic isolation devices are placed among the columns between the basement and the ground floor. Thus, by separating the superstructure from the ground during earthquakes, the device protects the building from the severity of the shaking,” Kaçmaz explained.

“The cost of the insulator device to be placed on a column is about 4,000 Euros on average. For example, for a 20-column house, there may be an additional cost of 80,000 Euros,” Kaçmaz noted.

It was learned that 580 seismic isolation devices were used in the construction of Elbistan State Hospital, 340 in Dörtyol State Hospital, 222 in Battalgazi State Hospital and 254 in Malatya Maternity and Children’s Hospital.