More than 21,000 people are now known to have died after Monday’s earthquakes in southern Turkey and northern Syria. In their report for the BBC, Jake Horton and William Armstrong question why so many buildings collapsed in Turkey.
In their report for the BBC, Jake Horton and William Armstrong question why so many buildings, especially newly constructed ones collapsed in Turkey.
The fact that even some of the newest apartment blocks crumbled to dust has led to urgent questions about building safety standards.
As Jake Horton and William Armstrong argue in their quest to unpack this:
Construction regulations have been tightened following previous disasters, including a 1999 earthquake around the city of Izmit, in the north-west of the country, in which 17,000 people died.
But the laws, including the latest standards set in 2018, have been poorly enforced.
“In part, the problem is that there’s very little retrofitting of existing buildings, but there’s also very little enforcement of building standards on new builds,” says Prof Alexander.
The BBC’s Middle East Correspondent, Tom Bateman, spoke to people in the southern city of Adana who said one collapsed building there was damaged 25 years ago in another quake but was left without any proper retrofitting.
Holton and Armstrong
To read the report click here.