Damage to petrochemical facilities during earthquakes

Petrochemical facilities suffered great damage during earthquakes, not only due to the strong ground shaking, but also because of the extensive uncontrolled fires caused by the earthquakes. 1999 Kocaeli (Turkey), 1964 Niigata (Japan), and 1964 Alaska earthquakes caused significant damage to petrochemical facilities. Tupras oil refinery, which was designed and constructed in 1961 according to the U.S. standards of that time, suffered significant damage after the Kocaeli earthquake. Prior to the earthquake, the Tupras refinery produced 220,000 barrels of oil-related product per day, which was approximately 1/3 of Turkey's total output. The strong shaking damage and the resulting fire damage to the Tupras refinery included port facilities, storage tanks, cooling towers, stacks, and crude-oil processing units. This paper will give detailed information about the damage observed and the consequences of the damage in the Tupras refinery and will give useful recommendations for the oil refineries located at the west coast of the United States.