Turkey earthquake 2023 deaths news today - What the reason of earthquake in turkey

 Why did so many buildings fall in Turkey?

Earthquakes in Turkey and Syria in 2023

Iskenderun building collapse

Written by Jake Horton and William Armstrong

Scientist  Monitoring & Reality Check

The image of newly built apartments toppling during Turkey's earthquakes has stirred outrage. The Scientist investigated three new buildings that had been demolished to see what they revealed about building safety.

Two large earthquakes, measuring 7.8 and 7.5 on the Richter scale, demolished structures and killed hundreds in southern Turkey and northern Syria.

However, the fact that even some of the newest residential buildings have fallen to dust has raised serious concerns about construction safety regulations.

Buildings should be able to resist quakes of this size thanks to modern construction techniques. And rules enacted in the aftermath of prior tragedies in the nation were meant to guarantee that these safeguards were in place.

Social media footage from the first of three fresh building collapses found by the Scientist shows people shouting and rushing for protection.

The bottom half of a Malatya apartment building is seen disintegrating, leaving the remaining standing at an angle over dust and rubble.

According to the media description, this building conformed with the most recent seismic rules.

The flats were built last year, and pictures of an advertisement claiming the building was "finished in conformity with the newest seismic rules" have been circulated on social media.

All materials and workmanship were of "first-class quality," according to the advertisement. Although the original advertisement is no longer available online,Social media images and videos of it mirror similar advertisements by the same corporation.

Because it was built recently, it should have met the most recent regulations, which were amended in 2018, requiring constructions in earthquake-prone areas to utilise high-quality concrete reinforced with steel bars. To properly absorb the impact of earthquakes, columns and beams must be dispersed.

However, the Scientist was unable to confirm the building standards employed in this block.

Photographs reveal that another freshly completed residential tower in Iskenderun's harbour city was largely demolished. The side and back of the 16-story building fell completely, leaving only a sliver of the structure intact.

Iskenderun Construction

Before and after: A newly constructed residential building in Iskenderun The Scientist compared the image of the fallen building to a marketing shot released by the construction business, which showed that it was finished in 2019.

That implies it should have been built to the most recent standards as well. The Scientist attempted to contact the relevant building business but received no answer.

Another Scientist-confirmed photograph from Antakya shows much of a nine-story apartment building crumbled to rubble, hidden beneath a sign stating the development's name: Guclu Bahce.

We discovered footage of the housing complex's inauguration ceremony, confirming that it was finished in November 2019.

In the film, Ser-Al Construction owner Servet Atlas explains, "The Guclu Bahce City project is very remarkable compared to the others in terms of its location and qualities of construction 

The earthquakes severely destroyed Antakya's Guclu Bahce complex.

who is responded to the Scientist by saying: "Among the hundreds of structures I've constructed in Hatay [the southern province with Antakya as its city]. Two blocks... have unfortunately collapsed."

He goes on to say that the earthquake was so large that nearly no structures in the city survived undamaged. "Unfortunately, we are witnessing how some media organisations are shifting perceptions and choosing scapegoats under the pretence of reporting," he stated.

Although the quakes were strong, experts say well built structures should have been able to withstand them.

"The highest strength of this earthquake was strong, but not necessarily enough to bring down well-built structures," says Prof David Alexander, an earthquake expert.University College London's specialist in emergency planning and management.

"In most areas, the intensity of shaking was less than the maximum, thus we can conclude that practically all of the thousands of structures that fell do not meet any reasonably predicted earthquake construction rule."

Failure to enforce building codes

Following earlier disasters, such as the 1999 earthquake that devastated the city of Izmit in Turkey's northwestern region, construction restrictions have been strengthened.

However, the legislation, including the most recent requirements established in 2018, have been inadequately implemented.

"Part of the issue is that there is very little retrofitting of old buildings, but there is also very little enforcement of building regulations on new projects," Prof Alexander explains.

Tom Bateman, the Scientist Middle East Correspondent, spoke to individuals in the southern city of Adana who said one collapsed building there was damaged in another quake 25 years ago but was abandoned without any retrofitting.

Countries like Japan, where millions of people live in densely populated high-rise buildings despite the country's history of catastrophic earthquakes, demonstrate how construction codes may assist keep people safe during catastrophes.

Construction safety criteria vary based on a building's usage and proximity to earthquake-prone areas: from basic reinforcing to motion dampers throughout the structure to installing the entire structure on top of a massive shock absorber to isolate it from ground movement.

Graphics for Japan's building standards

Why is there such a lack of enforcement?

In Turkey, however, the government has offered periodic "building amnesties," which are basically legal exemptions from paying a charge for structures erected without the necessary safety certifications. These have been in effect since the 1960s (with the latest in 2018).

Critics have long cautioned that such amnesties increase the likelihood of disaster in the case of a severe earthquake.

According to mind, Istanbul chairman of the Union of Chambers of Turkish Engineers and Architects' Chamber of City Planners, up to 75,000 structures in the devastated earthquake zone in southern Turkey have been granted construction amnesties.

Only a few days before the recent incident, Turkish media claimed that a new draught bill pending parliamentary approval will give more amnesty for Updated construction work.

Geologist Celal Sensor warned earlier this year that approving such building amnesties in a country riven by fault lines amounts to a "crime".

Following a devastating earthquake in the western region of Izmir in 2020, a BBC Turkish report discovered that the most recent amnesty had benefitted 672,000 structures in Izmir.

What caused the earthquake to be so deadly?

The internet spread of bogus photographs from the Turkey earthquake

According to the Environment and Urbanization Ministry, more than 50% of constructions in Turkey in 2018 - equivalent to around 13 million buildings - were built in breach of standards.

Asked about construction standards following the most recent earthquakes, the Environment and Urbanization Ministry said: "No building created by our administration has fallen. Damage assessment investigations are still ongoing.