Evaluation of Earthquake Damage In Hatay/Antakya City Center By Investigation of Spatial Change Between 2000-2002

Turkey is an earthquake country where disasters occur frequently due to its geographical location. Earthquakes cause spatial changes in urban and rural areas,which can be monitored and analyzed fast and accurately with Remote Sensing and Geographical Information Technologies.The study aims to determine the spatial changesin the city center of Hatay, Antakya,which was heavily hit by two large earthquakes of magnitude 7.7 and 7.6 on 06.02.2023. It was accepted that the structures added to the building stock from 2000 to 2002 were built according to the earthquake regulation published in 1997, and the damaged structures after the earthquake have been evaluated in this context. During the period leading up to the publication of the new building inspection law, the structures built according to the earthquake regulation were identified,and it has been observed that changes are taking place in these areas. To fulfill this aim, 2000 and 2002 images of LANDSAT 7 were usedto perform NBDI (Normalized Building Difference Index) analysis,and the image diffe-rencing was appliedby subtracting the image of the year 2000 from the year 2002. The struc-tural area changes werethen determined by comparing them with the 2023 SENTINEL-2 satellite image created after the earthquake. LANDSAT 7 data within the scope of the study USGS.gov (United States Geological Survey (.gov)) from the website and SENTINEL-2 data were obtained from the SENTINELS COPERNICUS (Sentinel Online) website by selecting certain dates within the scope of the topic. The main difficulties that may affect the results within the scope of the study can be expressed as satellite images obtained from the website and the possibility that geographical data sources are incorrect. The results showed that the structures built according to the earth-quake decrees between 2000 and 2002 have undergone changes after the earthquake that occurred in 2023 and that the regulation is not sufficient in taking precautions against earthquakes. In this context, earthquake regulations should be reviewed, their application should be done correctly during the construction of the structure and it should be ensured that the structures are not damaged. This study, which is based on the spatial change analysis after the earthquake, is an important and useful study in determining the points where the earthquake regulations in question are insufficient in the areas that need to be rebuilt in the city center of Antakya. In addition, it will be an important analysis example for the city planning studies expected to be carried out by local governments for the earthquake zone. Policy makers and practitioners can develop strategic planning approaches for the needs by dividing land determination and urban planning studies into regions within the framework of these areas by taking advantage of the image of the results presented in the study. By determining the damaged urban use areas located in the areas where change detection is observed within the study area, city planning intervention decisions related to this area can be developed.