10-02-2023, 02:31 PM
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."
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."
in order to be old & wise, you must first be young & stupid. (I'm still working on that.)