Earthquake in Türkiye, Syria: Destruction by 500 atomic bombs, including human impact

According to Reuters, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Martin Griffiths on February 11 described the recent devastating earthquake in southern Turkey and northwestern Syria as "the worst event in more than a year". 100 years in this area."

Orhan Tatar, head of the Turkish Disaster and Emergency Management Agency (AFAD), said the first quake on February 6 lasted 65 seconds, the second 45 seconds.

"The energy from two powerful earthquakes is equivalent to the energy of 500 atomic bombs," Tatar was quoted as saying by RT.

According to Tatar, after two earthquakes, there have been more than 2,000 aftershocks throughout the week, and will continue.

After the 7.8 magnitude earthquake on February 6, a series of old and new buildings in Turkey, even new constructions built 6 months earlier, all collapsed. Many houses that people have saved for a long time to build have turned into piles of rubble after just a few minutes.

Most of the nearly 24,000 people who died in the quake were buried when houses collapsed. This has angered Turkish people to question why houses in a country prone to earthquakes are so poorly built that they collapse easily after the first tremors.

Experts say Turkey has introduced many construction regulations to minimize damage from earthquakes, but construction companies often apply these regulations sparingly. According to Turkish officials, more than 12,141 buildings were destroyed or severely damaged after the earthquake.

Mustafa Erdik, a professor at Bogazici University in Istanbul, said the quake was so intense that damage was inevitable, but the situation should not have been as bad as it is now. He said that even if a building collapses, people still have certain spaces to hide while waiting for the rescue team. But in this earthquake, buildings "collapsed like paper".

"The floors in the building collapsed on top of each other," Erdik said, adding that this meant the chances of finding people living under the rubble were slim.

Zihni Tekin, an expert at Istanbul Technical University, said that the cause of Turkish buildings to completely collapse in earthquakes is often related to poor concrete quality, mainly due to being mixed with too much sand and gravel but less cement.

Another reason is that the steel used to cast the pillars is too small, making the building's structure unstable, Tekin added. This expert also said that Turkish construction engineers and architects lack qualifications and expertise, leading to serious consequences.

Local authorities in Türkiye are also said to have relaxed construction regulations. Building regulations in Turkey used to be based on standards in California, USA and have been revised regularly since the 1999 earthquake in northwestern Turkey. The most recent revision was in 2018.

"On paper, standards are high, with construction contracts being audited by private companies," says Istanbul-based architect Aykut Koksal. However, Koksal said that the inspection and construction supervision process is still lax, making construction workers may not comply with regulations.

Professor Erdik said the construction permit process in Turkey is so bureaucratic and cumbersome that it is difficult to determine who is ultimately responsible. He recommends applying an insurance policy with all parties involved in the construction process, to ensure that the contractor making mistakes is responsible for compensating the victim when the incident occurs.

"The world has done so and so should Türkiye," he said.

The negligence of some contractors in Turkey has sparked fury, especially as luxury apartments built in less than 20 years in the country have collapsed like dominoes in an earthquake.

Many people hope that after this earthquake, construction supervision will be improved. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan pledged to rebuild the earthquake-stricken area within a year.

In addition to high-rise buildings, Erdik is more interested in buildings under 10 floors, built by small companies or families. Since the earthquake, Erdik has received calls from building operators to urgently evaluate the quality of their works.

President Recep Tayyip declared that those who survived but lost their homes "will not have to live on the streets, and in poverty". According to the Turkish leader, hundreds of thousands of apartments will be rebuilt, and the earthquake-resistant system will also be strengthened in the future.

In addition, entire universities have switched to online learning, and dormitories are used as refuges for those who have lost their homes. The rescue effort is currently involving 160,000 personnel, including from overseas.

Earthquake in Türkiye: Passing the 21,000 mark, Syria faces a humanitarian disaster Hoàng Anh15:41:56 10/02/2023Although the "golden phase" has passed 72 hours after the earthquake, the rescue team continues to race against time to find survivors in the rubble. According to experts, the death toll could rise further in the coming days. The rescue agencies also warned that severe weather...