The landscape they met Turkey and Syria is bleak. The earthquake that destroyed the southeast of the Anatolian country and the northwest of the Arab country has already affected more than 1000 earthquakes. 50,000 dead, now. In a few seconds, especially 94, a A tremor of 7.6 on the Richter scale Thousands of lives were taken at 04:17 on Monday, February 6th. never in the near future Turkeyso many people died in such a short time; Never before had so many millions of people lost absolutely everything—from their homes to their savings, often hidden under their beds—in one night.
A saying has become popular in the Anatolian country lately. It’s not a prophecy because those who say it say it after the fact, after everything has happened. “Earthquakes don’t kill anyone.. Bad structures do that”, pray to the Turks. Something has gone wrong in the last few decades.
“government Recep Tayyip Erdogan He’s spent years giving contracts to people who aren’t necessarily the most competent, but who favor the manager the most, trying to play their own game. This is the same government that created it. building regulations behind 1999 earthquakebut then he basically dedicated himself to granting amnesty to illegal construction”, he explains. jenny whiteteacher Stockholm University.
That earthquake in 1999 occurred near Istanbul and cost the lives of many people. 17,000 people. Erdogan and his new formation, a divided government with a difficult coalition, and the chaos and mismanagement of the Executive dealing with it, akpHe promised a complete restructuring for Turkey.
Made. In the 20-year rule of the current Turkish president, the Anatolian country is another: it exists now highways where there were once broken roads, functional airports and hospitals services everywhere, in living areas that were abandoned twenty years ago in exclusion and political indifference.
But the rush to build and fatten the economy, according to White, problems for the future. “If a building wasn’t built to standards, the government started advertising rather than forcing the builder to fix it. amnestyto impose small fines for legalize illegal construction. All these were favors done to the AKP’s close friend, the construction industry. Most of these buildings have been pardoned succumbed to the earthquakeIt says white.
tectonic plates
Turkey, a country that shuts down Mediterrenian in the east it is covered with a cover. two major tectonic platesone of the most active in the world. North, along the coast Black Seaarrives Istanbulfavorite city angels And San Franciscolives under the devastating prophecy of a hypothetical great earthquake in the uncertain future.
The southern fault, where the earthquake occurred in Turkey, cuts through the big city centers. Just above this tectonic plate, though they are now destroyed, Kahramanmaras, Antakya, Gaziantep and others. Bad geography and bad constructions came together that blessed morning. “We warned about these problems years ago, said something had to be done, and that’s it. these amnesties were dangerous”, he explained, a few days ago, Taner Finhead Chamber of Builders and Engineers From Turkey to the newspaper ‘Republic’: “Unfortunately, no one heard our voices.”
“According to our estimations, 65% of all buildings The whole country is in danger of being destroyed in an earthquake. In 2011, the government strategic plan to identify all dangerous structures. The plan was supposed to be finalized in 2017. It was never done,” said Yüzgeç, adding that after all, this huge death toll had a reason: “bad construction. Of course, an earthquake is a natural disaster. But its effects can be mitigated. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the point.”
But there is more, according to White: “A political system Lack of specialization doesn’t matter, as in Turkey, where loyalty is paramount. Erdogan put his relatives in important government posts. The man in charge of the rescue teams is a man with no experience in the field,” explains White.
the person in question Ismail PalakogluHe was a trained theologian and Ministry of Religious Affairs when he is brought to the command of the department of emergencies and natural disasters. “I don’t know…” says White. It’s hard to list everything that went wrong.”