You are aware of the powerful earthquake that hit this area in 1999. Al Skyler and his family visited there just days before the earthquake hit. Return in 99 The epicenter was close to Izmit which is just a few miles from Karamursel. The earthquake was terrible. The base suffered little damage. There was a lot of damage in the town of Karamursel, but still the damage was less than the surrounding cities like Golcuk, Degirmendere, Izmit, and Yalova. Remember, most of the structures were constructed using reinforced concrete. The ground underneath Karamursel is mostly rock, so the ground only shakes when there is an earthquake, it does not collapse or the surface does not move around as if on sand. Therefore the buildings on them, if they are constructed properly will survive well. There were though somewhere between 150-200 deaths in Karamursel alone. In general the newer buildings were constructed poorly. They did not survive the enormous shaking of the earthquake. The apartment building where Al and Liz Sykler lived, in the Eski Fabrika neighborhood and constructed so many years ago, had no significant damage to it. There was little damage on that street actually. No deaths on that street occurred.