**3. Study area**

Van City is located in eastern Turkey, and it is the most crowded city of the Eastern Anatolian Region of Turkey (**Figure 2**). Van Province's population was 1,096,397 in 2015, and almost 472,000 of them lived in Van central city area. Population has increased almost 5.5% during the last 5 years [23]. The main incomes in the region are animal production, agriculture, border trading, and tourism. Mainly continental climate is dominant, but alpine and sub-alpine climate effects are observed in high regions. Van central city's area climate is warmer than in those around it because of Van Lake. This lake is the biggest lake in Turkey and its water contains CaCO3. The central city area of Van was selected as the study area due to the fast development in last 10 years. The city was damaged by two big earthquakes (7.2 and 6.1) in 2011. After these tragic events, urban area started to sprawl to the far regions from the central city area.

**Figure 2.** Location of the study area and boundary of the case area (UTM WGS 84 Projection Zone 38N).
