Snow avalanche incidents in north-western Anatolia, Turkey during December 1992

Abstract

Snow avalanches take place in the mountainous regions of Turkey mostly in the eastern Anatolia Region with an average annual death toll of 23 people and much damage to property. However, in the mountainous areas of the Kastamonu and Sinop provinces in the western part of the Black Sea Region of Turkey between 25 and 30 December 1992, blizzards with heavy snowfall caused roof collapses and major avalanche events whereby 16 people were killed and 2 injured. When past records were investigated, there was no evidence that avalanche accidents had been encountered in the region where the dominant precipitation type is rain in the coastal zones and snow over the mountains. Moreover, avalanche prevention measures are so limited that the resettlement of villages or hamlets located in risk zones is common practice. In this article, avalanche formation associated with the meteorological conditions and geomorphologic features is discussed.