For years Turkey has tempted fate byfailing to enforce modern building standards, while allowing—and in some cases encouraging—a real estate boom in earthquake-prone areas, experts warn.
The lax enforcement of building codes, which geology and engineering experts have long warned about, is now under scrutiny in the wake of this week's devastating earthquakes that toppled thousands of buildings and killed more than 20,000 people in Turkey and Syria.
“This is a disaster caused by poor construction, not an earthquake,” stressed David Alexander, professor of Emergency Planning at University College London.
It is well known that many buildings in the areas hit by this week's two massive earthquakes were built with inferior materials and methods and generally did not meet government standards, said Eyup Muhcu, president of the Turkish Chamber of Architects.
Muhcu added that this includes many older buildings, but also apartments built in recent years, almost two decades after the country updated its building codes to modern standards. “The construction in the area was substandard and unsound, despite the reality of earthquakes,” Muhcu added.
According to experts, the problem was largely ignored because addressing it would be costly, unpopular, and would hinder a key driver of the country's economic growth.
Undoubtedly, the successive earthquakes that demolished or damaged at least 12,000 buildings were extremely powerful: their force was magnified by the fact that they occurred at a shallow depth. The first quake, measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale, struck at 4:17 a.m., making it even more difficult for people to escape buildings as the ground shook violently. And Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has acknowledged “shortcomings” in the country’s response.
But experts have pointed out that there is a mountain of evidence — and rubble — that points to a harsh reality about what made the earthquakes so deadly: While Turkey theoretically has building codes that meet current seismic engineering standards, they are rarely enforced, which explains why thousands of buildings collapsed.
In a country crisscrossed by geological faults, the population is concerned about not knowing when and where the next earthquake might occur, particularly in Istanbul, a city of more than 15 million inhabitants that is vulnerable to earthquakes.
Following the disaster, Erdogan's Justice Minister announced that he would investigate what was behind the destroyed buildings.
“Those who have been negligent, guilty and responsible for the destruction after the earthquake will be brought to justice,” Bekir Bozdag warned on Thursday.
But several experts said that any serious inquiry into the root of weak enforcement of building codes must include a thorough review of Erdogan's policies, as well as the regional and local authorities who oversaw—and promoted—a real estate boom that helped fuel economic growth.
Shortly before Turkey's last presidential and parliamentary elections in 2018, the government unveiled a sweeping amnesty program for companies and individuals responsible for certain violations of the country's building codes. By paying a fine, violators could avoid the obligation to bring their buildings into compliance. Such amnesties have also been used by previous governments before elections.
As part of that amnesty program, the government agency responsible for enforcing building codes acknowledged that more than half of all construction in Turkey — representing some 13 million apartments — did not meet current standards.
The types of violations mentioned in that report by the Ministry of Environment and Urban Planning were very varied, including homes built without permits, properties that added extra floors or extended balconies without authorization, and the existence of so-called precarious housing for low-income families.
The report did not specify how many properties violated codes related to earthquake protection or basic structural integrity, but the reality was evident.
“The amnesty for construction does not mean that a property is legally sound,” warned Murat Kurum, the current head of the Ministry of Environment and Urbanization, in 2019.
In 2021, the Turkish Chamber of Geological Engineers published a series of reports warning about existing buildings and new construction in areas devastated by this week's earthquakes, including Kahramanmaras, Hatay, and Osmaniye. The Chamber urged the government to conduct studies to ensure that buildings met code and were constructed in safe zones.
A year earlier, the House issued a report that directly labeled the policies of “slum amnesty, construction amnesty” as dangerous and warned that “indifference to disaster safety culture” would cause preventable deaths.
Since 1999, when two powerful earthquakes struck northwestern Turkey near Istanbul—the strongest killing about 18,000 people—building codes have been strengthened and an urban renewal process has begun, but improvements are not happening fast enough, especially in poorer cities.
Builders often use lower-quality materials, hire fewer professionals to supervise projects, and fail to comply with various regulations in order to keep costs low, according to Muhcu, president of the country's Chamber of Architects.
He stated that the Turkish government's so-called "peacebuilding" program, presented before the 2018 elections as a way to secure votes, has in effect legalized unsafe buildings. "We are paying for this with thousands of deaths, the destruction of thousands of buildings, and economic losses," he asserted.
Even new apartment buildings advertised as safe were devastated by the earthquake.
In Hatay province, where the number of victims was highest and an airport runway and two public hospitals were destroyed, survivor Bestami Coskuner said that many new buildings collapsed, including new and “ostentatious” ones.
In Antakya, a historic city in Hatay province, a 12-story building with 250 units, completed in 2013, collapsed, leaving an unknown number of people dead or trapped alive. The Ronesans Residence was considered one of the area's "luxury" buildings, according to Turkish media, and was promoted on social media as "a piece of heaven.".
Another building destroyed in Antakya is the Guclu Bahce, whose construction began in 2017 and was inaugurated with great fanfare in 2019 in a ceremony attended by the mayor of Hatay and other municipal officials, according to the fact-checking website Dogrulukpayi.
In Malatya, the new Asur apartments—which were advertised as earthquake-proof—were damaged in the first earthquake, but the residents escaped unharmed. Some residents who returned to the building to collect their belongings had a lucky escape when the second strong earthquake struck, causing the building to tilt to one side, according to a video circulating on TikTok and confirmed by the fact-checking website Teyit.
The devastation across Turkey comes at a delicate time for President Erdogan, who faces a difficult parliamentary and presidential election in May amid an economic recession and a high inflation rate.
Erdogan has regularly touted the country's construction boom over the past two decades, including new airports, roads, bridges and hospitals, as proof of his success during more than two decades in power.
During his tour of the devastated areas on Wednesday and Thursday, Erdogan pledged to rebuild the destroyed homes within a year. “We know how to do this,” he declared. “We are a government that has proven its capabilities in these matters. We will do it.”.
(With information from AP).
