ENVISAT MONITORING EARTHQUAKES A Roll Few natural phenomena cause as much havoc as an earthquake. Over the centuries millions have died and an incalculable amount of property has been damaged. The major earthquake that occurred in 1999 in the Izmit region of Turkey, had a magnitude on the Richter scale of 7.4 and is testament to the awesome power of nature. Izmit is located at the far Eastern side of the Sea of Marmara and the earthquake was associated with a major strike-slip fault running roughly East/West through Izmit and along the Southern shore of the Marmara coast. At the forefront of research into the space-based assessment of earthquake damage and risk are Nigel Press Associates NPA - a specialist Earth Observation company who have developed products and services specifically associated with the European Space Agencyís ERS satellite. SOUNDBITE - Ren Capes, NPA ""We were contracted by our client, Thames Water, who have a very large water development project in the region, and they were concerned th