On 27 December 1939, a 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck Erzincan, Turkey, claiming close to 33 000 lives, and leaving 100 000 injured and 250 000 homeless. World War II was in its initial stages, and the USA was particularly concerned about the vulnerable situation in Turkey, since there was a possibility that it would join forces with Germany, as the Ottoman Empire had done in World War I. Consequently, the Turkish request for information on ‘a type of quake resistant concrete construction understood to have been developed in California’, resulted in a flurry of correspondence between numerous Turkish and American actors, including the US State Department, which supplied this material with notable attentiveness. As this article will argue, this request not only represents an early critical juncture in the transfer of earthquake engineering knowledge from the USA to Turkey, but also illustrates how diplomacy and engineering can intersect at pivotal points in time. Engineers and other scientific experts strengthened the Turkish–American relationship during this period, thereby laying the foundation of the technical cooperation that would flourish during the Cold War. This watershed moment also resulted in immediate developments in Turkey, such as the development of a comprehensive national disaster management programme, a seismic zone map, and earthquake building codes.

1939 年 12 月 27 日，土耳其埃尔津詹发生 7.8 级地震，造成近 33 000 人丧生，10 万人受伤，25 万人无家可归。二战刚刚开始，美国特别担心土耳其的脆弱局势，因为它有可能与德国联手，就像奥斯曼帝国在第一次世界大战中所做的那样。因此，土耳其要求提供有关“一种被认为是在加利福尼亚开发的抗震混凝土结构”的信息，导致包括美国国务院在内的众多土耳其和美国参与者之间的一系列通信，美国国务院非常关注地提供了这种材料。正如本文将论证的那样，这一要求不仅代表了将地震工程知识从美国转移到土耳其的早期关键时刻，而且还说明了外交和工程如何在关键时间点相交。工程师和其他科学专家在此期间加强了土耳其与美国的关系，从而为冷战期间蓬勃发展的技术合作奠定了基础。这一分水岭时刻也导致了土耳其的直接发展，例如制定了全面的国家灾害管理计划、地震带地图和地震建筑规范。工程师和其他科学专家在此期间加强了土耳其与美国的关系，从而为冷战期间蓬勃发展的技术合作奠定了基础。这一分水岭时刻也导致了土耳其的直接发展，例如制定了全面的国家灾害管理计划、地震带地图和地震建筑规范。工程师和其他科学专家在此期间加强了土耳其与美国的关系，从而为冷战期间蓬勃发展的技术合作奠定了基础。这一分水岭时刻也导致了土耳其的直接发展，例如制定了全面的国家灾害管理计划、地震带地图和地震建筑规范。