Erzincan Trabzon Railway is the Most Suitable Route in terms of Earthquake Safety

Professor of the Eastern Black Sea region, an important geologist. Dr. Nafiz Maden said that the most suitable route for earthquake risk in terms of geotechnical security regarding the railway route, which is under discussion in the region, is the Erzincan-Gümüşhane-Trabzon route, and that the Rize line will pass through the Bayburt basin, and that it is a geotechnically unsafe region.

Prof.Dr. Nafiz Maden stated that they reiterated that the Erzincan-Gümüşhane-Trabzon railway, which they determined as the most suitable route 10 years ago as a result of joint work with various scientists, is still the most suitable route in terms of earthquake safety and geological infrastructure.

Sharing his scientific concerns about the line that is claimed to be shifted to Rize in public, Maden said, “The railway line to Rize will pass through the Bayburt basin. Bayburt basin is a depression basin. Therefore, its security may not be very well done in terms of geo-technical security. In a rain, a flood, the rails may hang around here, the train may crash. We have seen examples of it in the past. Therefore, as the Rize line will pass in the Bayburt basin in this sense, it is an unsafe region in terms of geotechnics, ”he said.

"Russians laid rails up to Zigana Mountain during the occupation"

Reminding that when Trabzon was occupied in 1916, the Russians built a railway line up to Zigana Mountain in order to seize the mines in Gümüşhane and take them to their own countries, Maden said, “This line stayed here for many years but was later dismantled and sold to the scrap dealer. The most geotechnical route, which is also seen by the Russians, is the line that will pass through Gümüşhane. "This is the closest line to the port."

Maden stated that the earthquake data of both the Kandilli Observatory and the Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD) supported their work and said, “The most suitable route for the railway that will reach Trabzon port from Erzincan in terms of geotechnical security, earthquake risk, geological and tectonic structure. It is the route it will pass through Gümüşhane. Proposing an alternative way to this, planning a route may put railway security in a very difficult situation in terms of future damage. “We can be from the bulgur in hand while going to dimyata rice”.

"The railway needs to be implemented as soon as possible, integrated into the airport and the logistics base there must be put into operation"

Noting that if the airport, which is under construction in the Köse district of Gümüşhane, is integrated into this railway, this airport can also be used as a logistics base in the event of an earthquake in the Eastern Anatolia region, “The railway must be implemented as soon as possible, integrated into the airport and the logistics base there must be activated. In Eastern Anatolia, in Erzincan, Erzurum, Bingöl, Elazığ, Malatya, the point that can reach an earthquake as soon as possible will be Gümüşhane Logistics Base. We need to support this with railways and airlines, ”he said.

"Gümüşhane route is the most suitable route for earthquake risk"

According to the earthquake maps, Maden stated that the most earthquakes in the region are in the vicinity of Erzincan, Erzurum and Elazığ and said, “The railway to the Bayburt basin is risky both in terms of ground and parallel to the fault lines. But on the line where you will land in Trabzon via Gümüşhane, you get away from the fault lines as soon as possible and you cut it steeply. You do not proceed parallel to fault lines like in the Bayburt basin. In this sense, in terms of geotechnical security, the most suitable route for earthquake is not Bayburt route but Gümüşhane route ”.