Earthquake aftermath in Istanbul, cracks continue to appear in homes

Two powerful earthquakes in Turkey's southeastern province of Kahramanmaras, which have killed nearly 50,000, have brought new urgency to its largest city, Istanbul. As huge cracks continue to appear in the city's buildings, residents reel under the basic threat of their homes collapsing.

The metropolis of 15 million people sits on the North Anatolian fault line and is expected to experience its own major earthquake by 2030, according to experts. Around 70% of the city's buildings were built before stricter building regulations were introduced in 1999 and are therefore considered potentially unsafe. Recently, a study revealed that a seismic event in the area could result in the deaths of up to 90,000 individuals. Therefore, efforts are being made to prepare the city for such an event.

Resident Mesut, who had just returned from Kahramanmaras where he lost relatives, was forced to leave his flat in Istanbul. “It happened at 4:17, a relative called, and we all woke up screaming,” Mesut's face collapsed into tears, and he turned to calm himself. “It's a terrible situation. We couldn't get [to Kahramanmaras] for three days because of the snow, and when we got to the ruins, it was so hard. I can't describe it. I hope God doesn't make anyone else experience this,” he said.

When Mesut returned to Istanbul, the authorities turned off the electricity and water in his flat. “I asked for them back again just so we could move. They gave me two more days.” “The magistrate sent us a written notice about it, but because of the neighbours' refusal, the situation was not resolved. We knew that our utilities would be shut off, and we were ready to leave, but then the earthquake happened.” happened and everything became a wreck.”

After the earthquake in southern Turkey, more than 100,000 requests for building safety inspections were submitted to the Istanbul Municipality. The waiting time for inspections has increased from three to four months and is still increasing. Both tenants and landlords are now eligible to apply, but the financial implications are putting some off. Compensation provided to those who need to evacuate condemned buildings is insufficient, and no official statistics show how many buildings have failed the safety test.

A walk down an average Istanbul street will reveal why. Many buildings have specific structural features that can cause them to collapse when subjected to seismic pressure. Dr. Kurtulus Atasever, a civil and earthquake engineer, demonstrated some of these issues during the meeting.

According to him, quality concrete and architecture are vital. “We have some overhangs here. We have some weak or soft floors in this type of building. There are also short columns, these are actually typical building problems,” Atasever said.

Simply put, each of these design flaws reduces the strength of the building at ground level, making it difficult to support the upper floors in the event of an earthquake. An overhang extends the width of a building beyond its foundation, while soft floors are characterized by a ground floor that is higher than the upper floor. Short posts lack the necessary length in proportion to their diameter.