Earthquakes in Turkey & Syria

[Lilith7]

They've had so  many now; two really strong ones & lots of aftershocks. More than 7,800 dead so far.

https://www.bbc.com/news/live/64533954



"More than 7,800 people have died... across both countries after two huge earthquakes on Monday, amid warnings from the World Health Organization that the toll may rise dramatically as rescuers find more victims. More than 23 million people could be affected by the disaster

Emergency workers... worked through another freezing-cold night, in a desperate race against the clock to save people trapped beneath rubble after thousands of buildings collapsed

Relatives of victims... armed with pickaxes and crowbars joined frantic rescue efforts in one of the worst-hit Turkish cities, as anguished families said rescue services took too long to respond in some areas."

[Kenj]

God, see the little kids they were pulling out of the ruins... Heartbreaking.

Ken

[harm_less]

I spent 3 months in the Diyarbakir area back in 1989 doing oil exploration surveying. One of the lasting memories is the ramshackle building construction that I saw underway. I'm not surprised that so many buildings have failed. Diyarbakir is an ancient city with the older part of it being within fortification walls dating from around 350-500AD. I can't help but wonder how those walls survived the quakes. Well I suspect.

The other enduring memory is of the toughness and resilience of the Kurdish labourers we worked with. Used to being downtrodden and surviving a challenging climate so hopefully their resilience serves them well in this challenge.

[Lilith7]

There was footage of some buildings taken during the largest shock; they just seemed to fall straight down vertically so not much chance of survival for most. Poor people.

[zqwerty]

Similar to pics I saw after the Chch earthquake

Movement of the Anatolian plate after the Turkey earthquakes:

From Reddit

https://i.redd.it/vkcxxltnyyga1.jpg

and another:

Twisted train tracks on the fault line in Turkey

https://old.reddit.com/r/pics/comments/1...in_turkey/

[harm_less]

There was footage of some buildings taken during the largest shock; they just seemed to fall straight down vertically so not much chance of survival for most. Poor people.

In the coverage on Al Jazerra last night they were claiming that a supermarket had been developed on the bottom floor of an apartment block and as part of this work central support columns had been removed. That's definitely going to compromise the building's integrity.

[Lilith7]

There was footage of some buildings taken during the largest shock; they just seemed to fall straight down vertically so not much chance of survival for most. Poor people.

In the coverage on Al Jazerra last night they were claiming that a supermarket had been developed on the bottom floor of an apartment block and as part of this work central support columns had been removed. That's definitely going to compromise the building's integrity.

Unbelievably stupid.....

[nzoomed]

I spent 3 months in the Diyarbakir area back in 1989 doing oil exploration surveying. One of the lasting memories is the ramshackle building construction that I saw underway. I'm not surprised that so many buildings have failed. Diyarbakir is an ancient city with the older part of it being within fortification walls dating from around 350-500AD. I can't help but wonder how those walls survived the quakes. Well I suspect.

The other enduring memory is of the toughness and resilience of the Kurdish labourers we worked with. Used to being downtrodden and surviving a challenging climate so hopefully their resilience serves them well in this challenge.

Yes quite true, its ironic that these ancient sites have stood up to thousands of years worth of earthquakes.

[Lilith7]

Why the buildings fell.


https://www.bbc.com/news/64568826

"Two major earthquakes - measuring 7.8 and 7.5 on the magnitude scale - flattened buildings of all kinds and killed thousands of people across southern Turkey and northern Syria.
But the fact that even some of the newest apartment blocks crumbled to dust has led to urgent questions about building safety standards.

Modern construction techniques should mean buildings can withstand quakes of this magnitude. And regulations following previous disasters in the country were supposed to ensure these protections were built in.
In the first of three new building collapses identified by the BBC, social media footage shows people screaming and running for cover.
The apartments were newly constructed last year, and screenshots have been shared on social media showing an advert saying the building was "completed in compliance with the latest earthquake regulations".


All materials and workmanship used were "first-class quality", the advert claimed. While the original advert is no longer available online, screenshots and videos of it circulating on social media match similar adverts by the same company.
The recent construction means it should have been built to the latest standards, updated in 2018, which require structures in earthquake-prone regions to use high-quality concrete reinforced with steel bars. Columns and beams must be distributed to effectively absorb the impact of earthquakes.
Responding to the BBC, Mr Altas said: "Among the hundreds of buildings I have built in Hatay [the southern province which has Antakya as its capital]. Unfortunately and sadly two blocks... have collapsed."
He adds that the earthquake was of such a vast scale that almost no buildings in the city survived intact. "We painfully witness how some media organisations are changing perception and picking scapegoats under the guise of reporting," he said.

Although the quakes were powerful, experts say properly constructed buildings should have been able to stay standing.

"The maximum intensity for this earthquake was violent but not necessarily enough to bring well constructed buildings down," says Prof David Alexander, an expert in emergency planning and management at University College London.
Construction regulations have been tightened following previous disasters, including a 1999 earthquake around the city of Izmit, in the north-west of the country, in which 17,000 people died.


But the laws, including the latest standards set in 2018, have been poorly enforced.

Countries such as Japan, where millions of people live in densely populated high-rise buildings despite the country's history of severe earthquakes, show how building regulations can help to keep people safe in disasters."

[Zurdo]

It's good having regulations...so long as they are adhered too. A place where I live (NZ) some guy was building industrial units on his property. The site was inspected before he poured grout into his block wall. Unfortunately someone saw him pull the rebar out before he filled the walls, and dobbed him in. He had a big job demolishing the walls he'd just built. He was caught...how many aren't.

[king1]

It's good having regulations...so long as they are adhered too. A place where I live (NZ) some guy was building industrial units on his property. The site was inspected before he poured grout into his block wall. Unfortunately someone saw him pull the rebar out before he filled the walls, and dobbed him in.  He had a big job demolishing the walls he'd just built.  He was caught...how many aren't.

Why would one do that?

[Zurdo]

Well, then you could pretend to put the rebar somewhere else...and so on.

[harm_less]

It's good having regulations...so long as they are adhered too. A place where I live (NZ) some guy was building industrial units on his property. The site was inspected before he poured grout into his block wall. Unfortunately someone saw him pull the rebar out before he filled the walls, and dobbed him in.  He had a big job demolishing the walls he'd just built.  He was caught...how many aren't.

Didn't need someone to see the rebar being removed, just run a metal detector across the finished wall and... busted!

[nzoomed]

It's good having regulations...so long as they are adhered too. A place where I live (NZ) some guy was building industrial units on his property. The site was inspected before he poured grout into his block wall. Unfortunately someone saw him pull the rebar out before he filled the walls, and dobbed him in.  He had a big job demolishing the walls he'd just built.  He was caught...how many aren't.

Didn't need someone to see the rebar being removed, just run a metal detector across the finished wall and... busted!

I dont get why anyone would do that? It would be a lot of work to remove it as its typically all tied together and what are you going to do with it? Take it to another building site and do the same thing? I doubt it, especially with all the bends and everything made to suit.

[Zurdo]

If you had met him, it would all become clear...

[nzoomed]

28000 dead now, but they are still pulling out survivors.
Really puts things into perspective the extent of this when you compare it to the chch quakes.

[harm_less]

Saw an interesting image earlier overlaying the affected area in Turkey on our North Island. Covered the whole central North Island from East to West, Hamilton to Palmy. Also the coverage on Al Jazeera are likening the damage to that of a 11 scale earthquake due to the duration and velocities. The drone footage showing a 200m wide canyon now running through what was an olive grove is particularly striking.

[Oh_hunnihunni]

Puts our ongoing cyclone worries into perspective...

[Lilith7]

They're still pulling people out from the ruins, including a baby apparently born in the rubble who only has s few relatives left & will be taken in by a great uncle.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/f...wborn-name


And some from the same family.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/f...ainst-time

[harm_less]

The video footage that Al Jazeera used was part of this: https://twitter.com/i/status/1624452369348952066