Many Years Have Passed Since the Gölcük Earthquake of 17 August 1999

The 17 August 1999 Gölcük earthquake was recorded as one of the biggest disasters in Türkiye's history. 17 thousand 840 people lost their lives in the earthquake that started at 03.02 and lasted for 45 seconds.

While 285 thousand residences and more than 40 thousand workplaces were damaged in the 7.4 magnitude earthquake, hundreds of thousands of people were left homeless.

One of the places where the most destruction occurred was Kocaeli's Körfez district. On the night of August 17, citizens as well as aid teams fought hard. One of them, Bedri Şendoğan, participated in the rescue efforts until the first light of the morning. Şendoğan, who is now 71 years old, managed to pull 17 people out of the rubble alive that night.