Historical Earthquake Damages to Domed Structures in Istanbul

Abstract

This chapter discusses the domed structures in Istanbul, which are reported damaged during strong historical earthquakes. The attention is focused mostly to their domes, the most important component of the Byzantine and the Ottoman architecture. The significant shakings, together with their estimated epicenters and magnitudes, have been defined and the spatial distribution of the reported damages in the domed structures has been examined. It is underlined once more that the Historical Peninsula, which is where once Constantinople was located, has several vulnerable structures and high seismic hazard level at the same time. Certain structures are quite vulnerable to strong shakings and received significant damages multiple times. The chapter discusses the possible effects of the future seismic events on the historical buildings in Istanbul, based on the recorded damages occurred during the past seismic events.