SNOW AVALANCHE INCIDENTS IN NORTH-WESTERN ANATOLIA, TURKEY DURING DECEMBER 1992

Snow avalanches take place in the mountainous regions of Turkey mostly in the eastern Anatolia Region with an average annual death toll of 2 3 people and much damage to property. However, in the mountainous area s of the Kastamonu and Sinop provinces in the western part of the Blac k Sea Region of Turkey between 25 and 30 December 1992, blizzards with heavy snowfall caused roof collapses and major avalanche events where by 16 people were killed and 2 injured. When past records were investi gated, there was no evidence that avalanche accidents had been encount ered in the region where the dominant precipitation type is rain in th e coastal zones and snow over the mountains. Moreover, avalanche preve ntion measures are so limited that the resettlement of villages or ham lets located in risk zones is common practice. In this article, avalan che formation associated with the meteorological conditions and geomor phologic features is discussed.