A comparative evaluation of the results of two earthquakes: Istanbul and Lisbon earthquake in 18th century

Abstract

Earthquakes affect both urban texture and social structure of cities in history. It can be seen that in two scales such as urban scale and building scale. In this context, two earthquake examples such as the 1755 Lisbon Earthquake and the 1766 Istanbul Earthquake will be analyzed in different scales. This paper is giving introduction to the main urban texture in 1700s consisting of timber housing structures and damages of these earthquakes. Construction system of Istanbul and Lisbon will be analyzed. In the methodology of this study a comparative evaluation of the 1755 Lisbon Earthquake and the 1766 İstanbul Earthquake will be presented. By looking at the archive records, the development of urban structure after earthquakes has different tendencies in Lisbon and Istanbul. The first inclination is to remove the old city and re-build completely the new city as in Lisbon. By doing this renovation the new regulations are settled down. The second inclination is reproduction of the old housing construction system in Istanbul. It could be seen from both the local archive documents and European travelers’ records. The aim would be a comparative approach in order to develop and preserve the historic urban areas and historical buildings that has a potential to make an evaluation by the reflection of past to the present.