Turkey-Syria earthquake: Maydanki dam cracked

The Maydanki dam in the northern city of Afrin was exposed to huge longitudinal and transverse cracks as a result of the powerful 7.8 magnitude earthquake that struck southeastern Turkey and northwestern Syria on Monday and left over 5000 people dead. The Maydanki dam, also known as the Afrin dam or “17 April” dam, is located 70 kilometers from Aleppo and 12 kilometers from the town of Afrin, near the village of Maydanki, which overlooks the Afrin River. The catchment area is 527 m2, and the annual precipitation ranges from 330 to 700 millimeters. The Afrin River originates from the south of the Kartal Mountains in Turkey and crosses into Syria, where it passes through the city of Afrin and then returns to Turkey. An expert on seismology from the regionstated that the Maydanki dam has suffered during the past ten years from neglect of maintenance for everything necessary to maintain it, which led to a decrease in its life span and its safety factor. The longitudinal and transverse cracks in the dam body also resulted from the lack of permanent technical monitoring of this dam for a long time. The expert explained that the danger lies in the cracks caused by the water within these cracks, as it is possible for the water to leak, which in turn may lead to the expansion of the cracks and generate additional cracks, which may cause a collapse in the dam due to the entry of water into the body of the dam. As a result of the dam’s rupture, the Free Syrian Engineers Association in Turkey formed a committee to uncover the dam’s body in the coming time and to develop perceptions, proposals, and solutions for that.