Seismic Performance of RC Structures in Pazarcık and Elbistan During the 2023 Kahramanmaraş Earthquakes

On Monday, February 6th, 2023, at 04:17 and 13:24 local time, two very severe shallow earthquakes with magnitudes Mw = 7.7 and 7.6 occurred, with epicenters in Kahramanmaraş-Pazarcık and Kahramanmaraş-Elbistan. Due to the strong ground motion effect during these earthquakes, many people lost their lives and great economic losses occurred due to the destruction and damage to buildings in eleven different provinces and surrounding regions. In this study, the seismic performances of structures with various structural systems located in the Pazarcık and Elbistan districts of Kahramanmaraş city, which are the epicenters of these earthquakes, were evaluated as a result of field observations. Structural failures in the earthquake epicenters’ urban and rural building stocks directly affected the damage's extent. Structural damages occurring in both district centers and rural areas of the districts were investigated within the scope of earthquake and civil engineering. The main causes of damaged concrete structures are irregularities and insufficient reinforced concrete. The significance of earthquake-resistant structure design principles and irregularity-free structures has again become clear. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2025.