Düzce is a city in northwestern Turkey, the capital city of Düzce Province, the eighty-first province in the country. It is the seat of Düzce District. Its population is 194,097.

The 1999 İzmit earthquake was a magnitude 7.6 earthquake which struck the Kocaeli Province of Turkey on 17 August 1999. Between 17,127 and 18,373 people died as a result, and it caused an estimated US $6.5 billion in damage. It was named for the quake's proximity to the northwestern city of İzmit. The earthquake occurred at 03:01 local time at a shallow depth of 15 km. A maximum Mercalli intensity of X (Extreme) was observed. The earthquake lasted for 37 seconds, causing seismic damage, and is widely remembered as one of the deadliest natural disasters in modern Turkish history.