Structural “Un”integrity

W. H. R. Johnston

Powerful earthquakes across Turkiye and Syria have been responsible for at least 29,000 deaths, with UN coordinators estimating the figure could so much as double, prompting Turkish authorities to detain or issue arrest warrants to over 130 people allegedly involved in the construction of buildings that collapsed and crushed their occupants. While Turkey has construction codes which uphold earthquake-engineering standards, they are far too rarely followed, leaving their shortcomings on display to the world as buildings slumped onto their sides and folded in on themselves, as the corner cutting of construction companies left thousands buried in rubble.

While the earthquakes were certainly substantial, reaching a magnitude of 7.8 and 7.5, this level of magnitude is reached around the world quite regularly, with magnitude 8 earthquakes occurring approximately once a year. Additionally, Turkey is no stranger to earthquakes, being involved in 6 with magnitude 5.8 or higher in the past 3 years, therefore a severe lack of adequate infrastructure is certainly a problem that Turkey could not make any excuses for. If the minimum building codes were met, then it is likely that there would be a fraction of the deaths as the spontaneous collapse of fragile buildings has been the main cause of mortality and people have been crushed by their own ceilings in a matter of seconds.

While there has been clear outrage at some responsible construction companies, a mere 130 people identified clearly cannot be solely responsible for the sometimes blatant disregard of basic safety building codes on thousands of multi-story buildings. However, this incident has caused huge outrage even on parliamentary level, with the justice minister vowing to punish anyone responsible. And with the planned establishment of “Earthquake Crimes Investigation” bureaus, it does seem as though alleged perpetrators will be brought to justice. 

A large amount of frustration and irritation has also been directed towards authorities due to what has been perceived as initially an ineffective effort. It took some rescue teams days to accumulate and then reach villages, and getting through the villages themselves without access to critical roads due to immense amounts of rubble made their starts particularly slow. However, since then, such teams have worked around the clock to search and rescue as best they can in the little time they have, continuing to perform incredible rescues even 5 days after the event. Additionally, international support exceeding that of the UN has come from a multitude of countries to assist the recovery process, with forces around the world unanimously mobilizing aid.

The true aftermath of the situation will surely cause intrigue, particularly surrounding action against the corrupt Turkish construction industry, which has facilitated one of the largest natural disasters in the 21st century. Furthermore, the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, is in a very uncomfortable position with economic downturn and widespread national distress preceding the months before the next national election, which could well cause large political upheaval – for now, we can only wait and see how it all unfolds.