02-13-2023, 04:04 AM
Turkey earthquake: Why did so many buildings collapse?
According to Zoning amnesty law (Zoning Peace Law) no 7143 -
• A construction registration certificate has been issued for the buildings in rural and urban areas which
are not licensed or unregistered before 31.12.2017 for a certain fee.
• This law provides amnesties to unlicensed buildings where disaster risk is highest. The resistance of the buildings
which have the structure registration certificate to the earthquake is left to the responsibility of the building owner.
This situation conflicts with the law’s purpose of reducing disaster risks
“This extraordinary devastation is perpetuated by the persistence in repeating faulty urban policies and politically charged decisions like the 2018 zoning amnesty law,” said Prof Pelin Pinar Giritlioğlu, president of the Istanbul branch of the Union of Chambers of Turkish Engineers and Architects.
At the time of the amnesty, Turkey’s building experts warned that retrospectively licensing illegal buildings for a fee would have fatal consequences.
“It will mean transforming our cities, notably Istanbul, into graveyards and result in coffins emerging from our homes,” said Cemal Gökçe, the chairman of the Chamber of Civil Engineers in 2019.
Failure to enforce building regulations
building regulation the laws, including the latest TURKISH SEISMIC REGULATIONS-[b]2018 [/b], have been poorly enforced.
"In part, the problem is that there's very little retrofitting of existing buildings, but there's also very little enforcement of building standards on new builds," says Prof Alexander.
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.
Construction safety requirements vary depending on a building's use and its proximity to areas most at risk of earthquakes: from simple strengthening, to motion dampers throughout the building, to placing the entire structure on top of a giant shock absorber to isolate it from the movement of the ground.
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Why is enforcement so weak?
In Turkey, however, the government has provided periodic "construction amnesties" - effectively legal exemptions for the payment of a fee, for structures built without the required safety certificates. These have been passed since the 1960s (with the latest in 2018).
Critics have long warned that such amnesties risk catastrophe in the event of a major earthquake.
Up to 75,000 buildings across the affected earthquake zone in southern Turkey have been given construction amnesties, according to Pelin Pınar Giritlioğlu, Istanbul head of the Union of Chambers of Turkish Engineers and Architects' Chamber of City Planners.
In Article 9 of Regulation on Issuance of Building Registration Certificate, it is stated as follows:
“Building Registration Certificate is valid until the building is reconstructed or up to urban transformation process. In
the event that constructions, for which Building Registration Certificate was issued, are renovated, the provisions of current zoning legislation in effect shall apply. It is under the responsibility of the owner of the building to ensure earthquake
resistance and compliance of the building with scientific and artistic norms and standards thereof.”
Once the building is declared legal, it is the owner’s responsibility owner to be compliant with earthquake resistance. Just
as it is against the law to incur the responsibility of a building acknowledged to be legal, it is not possible to escape the responsibility of the state due to contradictions with statutory provisions and legislations in other aspects (e.g., elevator, fire,
installation, etc.). That the state removes its responsibility is also against the 125th Article of Constitution, regarding its
obligation to pay damages arising from its own acts and operations.
According to Zoning amnesty law (Zoning Peace Law) no 7143 -
• A construction registration certificate has been issued for the buildings in rural and urban areas which
are not licensed or unregistered before 31.12.2017 for a certain fee.
• This law provides amnesties to unlicensed buildings where disaster risk is highest. The resistance of the buildings
which have the structure registration certificate to the earthquake is left to the responsibility of the building owner.
This situation conflicts with the law’s purpose of reducing disaster risks
“This extraordinary devastation is perpetuated by the persistence in repeating faulty urban policies and politically charged decisions like the 2018 zoning amnesty law,” said Prof Pelin Pinar Giritlioğlu, president of the Istanbul branch of the Union of Chambers of Turkish Engineers and Architects.
At the time of the amnesty, Turkey’s building experts warned that retrospectively licensing illegal buildings for a fee would have fatal consequences.
“It will mean transforming our cities, notably Istanbul, into graveyards and result in coffins emerging from our homes,” said Cemal Gökçe, the chairman of the Chamber of Civil Engineers in 2019.
Failure to enforce building regulations
building regulation the laws, including the latest TURKISH SEISMIC REGULATIONS-[b]2018 [/b], have been poorly enforced.
"In part, the problem is that there's very little retrofitting of existing buildings, but there's also very little enforcement of building standards on new builds," says Prof Alexander.
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.
Construction safety requirements vary depending on a building's use and its proximity to areas most at risk of earthquakes: from simple strengthening, to motion dampers throughout the building, to placing the entire structure on top of a giant shock absorber to isolate it from the movement of the ground.
Why is enforcement so weak?
In Turkey, however, the government has provided periodic "construction amnesties" - effectively legal exemptions for the payment of a fee, for structures built without the required safety certificates. These have been passed since the 1960s (with the latest in 2018).
Critics have long warned that such amnesties risk catastrophe in the event of a major earthquake.
Up to 75,000 buildings across the affected earthquake zone in southern Turkey have been given construction amnesties, according to Pelin Pınar Giritlioğlu, Istanbul head of the Union of Chambers of Turkish Engineers and Architects' Chamber of City Planners.
In Article 9 of Regulation on Issuance of Building Registration Certificate, it is stated as follows:
“Building Registration Certificate is valid until the building is reconstructed or up to urban transformation process. In
the event that constructions, for which Building Registration Certificate was issued, are renovated, the provisions of current zoning legislation in effect shall apply. It is under the responsibility of the owner of the building to ensure earthquake
resistance and compliance of the building with scientific and artistic norms and standards thereof.”
Once the building is declared legal, it is the owner’s responsibility owner to be compliant with earthquake resistance. Just
as it is against the law to incur the responsibility of a building acknowledged to be legal, it is not possible to escape the responsibility of the state due to contradictions with statutory provisions and legislations in other aspects (e.g., elevator, fire,
installation, etc.). That the state removes its responsibility is also against the 125th Article of Constitution, regarding its
obligation to pay damages arising from its own acts and operations.