Effects of the Marmara Earthquake of 1999 on Micro and SmallBusinesses

Different reports about the same natural disaster often show an astounding difference in theestimations of overall losses. For the Northridge earthquake, for example, the estimation oftotal losses reaches from 25 billion US$ up to 49.3 billion US$ (Petak, 2001, p. 5). Thesedifferences give a hint that the mechanisms, which cause losses and recovery after a disaster,are not yet very well understood. The hardest problem in loss estimation is the assessment ofindirect losses. These are losses arising from other reasons than direct physical damages, likeinfrastructure failure or failure of suppliers....