The devastating earthquakes in Turkey and Syria have left more than 36 thousand people dead. The cause of the many deaths was not merely an earthquake, but the factor of many buildings collapsing and trapping their occupants.
As quoted by us from the Associated Press, Tuesday (14/2/2023) Turkey has actually been trying to enforce modern earthquake-resistant construction rules for years. However, on the other hand, there has been an increase in real estate development in earthquake-prone areas.
"This is a disaster caused by bad construction, not by the earthquake," said David Alexander, professor of emergency planning at University College London.
Eyup Muhcu, president of the Chamber of Architects of Turkey, confirmed that it is common knowledge that many buildings in the areas affected by the earthquake were built with poor materials. The method is the same.
This applies not only to old buildings, but also apartments built in the last few years. "Buildings in that area are weak and not sturdy, even though in reality it is prone to earthquakes there," said Muhcu.
This problem tends to be left alone because the solution will be expensive, unpopular and has the potential to hinder economic growth. Although on paper the Turkish government has earthquake-resistant building codes, these rules are rarely enforced. That is why thousands of buildings can collapse in this earthquake.
Developers typically use lower quality materials, employ fewer professionals to supervise projects and do not comply with various regulations as a way of keeping costs down.
"We pay for it with thousands of deaths, damage to thousands of buildings, economic losses," said Muhcu. Even relatively new apartment buildings were destroyed.
In Hatay Province, for example, where the death toll from this earthquake was the highest, Bestami Coskuner as one of the survivors, witnessed the collapse of many buildings, even those that had not been standing for a long time and were considered luxurious.