Turks call for wide probe into buildings felled by quakes

ANKARA, Turkiye — Amid growing public anger, the Turkish government has extended judicial investigations over contractors of buildings destroyed in the devastating earthquakes on Feb 6.

At least 120 people suspected of being responsible for collapsed buildings have been arrested, and prosecutors are continuing to gather evidence from samples of construction materials in the ruins.

There is a remarkable increase in damage assessment requests from property owners. The Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality had received 40,379 requests in the previous six days for their buildings to be inspected, said Bugra Gokce, deputy secretary-general of the municipality.

A total of 684,000 buildings were examined in the quake-affected provinces, and 84,726 of them were found to be collapsed, heavily damaged or in immediate need of demolition, said Murat Kurum, the minister of environment, urban planning and climate change.

The age of the buildings, the low bearing capacity of the floors on which the foundations were placed and the poor quality of construction materials were among the parameters effective in the destruction of those buildings, said a report published by academicians at Istanbul Technical University on Friday.

In the aftermath of the 1999 earthquake in the northwestern province of Izmit that killed more than 17,000 people, the Turkish government pledged to introduce new construction standards, with plans to strengthen existing buildings.

However, the latest disaster once again exposed the problems of construction safety breaches and lack of inspection, a report by the Chamber of Civil Engineers said.

In addition to the deficiency of materials used in construction, the report published two weeks ago drew attention to poor ground conditions, noting that severely damaged areas are mostly places where the settlements rise on fertile agricultural lands.

Buildings of 10 to 15 floors with a flexible load-bearing structure in these soft soil areas were severely damaged or collapsed during the earthquakes, the report said.

Xinhua