Turkish President Recep Erdogan said after a cabinet meeting that 98% of the houses that collapsed during the earthquake were built before 1999. This means that construction technologies introduced in 2000 in Turkey. turned out to be effective.
New building standards
After the 1999 Izmit earthquake, new building construction standards were introduced in Turkey. Modern technologies have made houses more resistant to tremors. According to govenrment renovation program in large cities of the country old buildings are being replaced with new ones. The Turkish government strictly monitors compliance with technology and construction time.
All new houses are equipped with the so-called “seismic skeleton” and are able to withstand an earthquake up to 9 points.
As for the 2% of new buildings that collapsed during the disaster, the commission admitted that they were built in bad faith. Criminal cases were opened against developers who did not comply with the standards. The leaders of 8 construction companies have already been arrested, some of them tried to escape abroad.
One of the most reliable developers turned out to be the State Housing Authority of Turkey (TOKİ). None of the buildings built by TOKİ in the disaster area collapsed. Moreover, these houses remained habitable. This is almost 134 thousand houses in 10 affected provinces.
In a year, all the victims of the earthquake will move to new homes.
According to the president, construction of 30,000 new houses will begin in early March. Work will begin as soon as the destroyed area is cleared. Houses, instead of the destroyed ones, will be built within a year. All new buildings will be designed as far as possible from the lines of geological faults.
People left homeless will be accommodated in containers and prefabricated houses, hotel rooms and municipal buildings in neighboring areas. Most of the temporary structures are built with the money of patrons.
Mayalanya co-founder Mehmet Sahin also contributed by sending 50 container houses to the disaster area.
