19 years have passed since the earthquake struck Kocaeli's Gölcük district on August 17, 1999, lasted for 45 seconds with 7,4 magnitudes.

Marmara Earthquake profound influence on the history of Turkiye was felt from Ankara to Izmir over a wide area and according to official reports, 17,480 people died while 23,781 people were injured and 505 people were left crippled.

285,211 houses and 42,902 business sites were damaged in the earthquake that caused great loss of life and property.

9,477 in Kocaeli, 3,891 in Sakarya, 2,504 in Yalova, 981 in Istanbul, 270 in Bolu, 268 in Bursa, 86 in Eskişehir and 3 in Zonguldak, a total of 17480 people lost their lives, about 24 thousand people were injured and over a hundred thousand people were left homeless.

Due to the earthquake, about 17,000 buildings collapsed in Kocaeli, while 91,000 houses had medium damage and 102,822 houses had little damage. 14,133 business sites have become unusable. After the earthquake, about 150,000 earthquake victims were sheltered in prefabricated tents. (ILKHA)