The Investigation of the Housing Stock in Turkey and Japan According to the Non-Structural Seismic Risks

Earthquake is a significant natural incident which harms the people by affecting the housing settlements, in which they live in, developed by the cultures of the societies. The accurate planning of the housing spaces and building them seismically safe decreases these harms of the earthquakes. Nonetheless, the household goods that we use inside affect the internal space planning because of their habitual use and thus also affect the building, and the people and household goods inside during the earthquake. When the damages occurred in Turkey and Japan are examined, which are both located on the significant seismic zones, it is observed that demolition, damage, and injuries are encountered more in Turkey. Learning to live with the earthquakes and designing earthquake resistant buildings have become a lifestyle in Japan. Undoubtedly, the effects of the traditional Japanese lifestyle on the contemporary internal design of the houses exist within this concept. With this purpose, in this paper, traditional and contemporary internal space habitual uses of Japan, which is accepted to solve its earthquake problems as regards to design, and Turkey, which has encountered great sufferings due to the earthquakes, are examined; and their differences and similarities were compared according to the non-structural earthquake hazards. Thus, a righteous solution according to the disaster management was aimed to be achieved in the study.