UPDATED: 2/10/23
ISTANBUL (AP) — Turkey has for years tempted fate by not enforcing modern construction codes while allowing — and in some cases, encouraging — a real estate boom in earthquake-prone areas, experts say. The lax enforcement, which experts in geology and engineering have long warned about, is gaining renewed scrutiny in the aftermath of this week’s devastating quakes, which flattened thousands of buildings and killed more than 22,000 people across Turkey and Syria.
As one expert put it: “This is a disaster caused by shoddy construction, not by an earthquake.” The well-known construction deficiencies were largely ignored, experts said, because addressing them would be expensive, unpopular and restrain a key engine of the country’s economic growth.
Original post: 2/9/23
ZIANTEP, Turkey (AP) — Thousands who lost their homes in a catastrophic earthquake huddled around campfires and clamored for food and water in the bitter cold, three days after the temblor and series of aftershocks hit Turkey and Syria. More than 17,000 were killed.
Rescuers continued their race to pull more people alive from the rubble, with the window closing to find trapped survivors. While stories of miraculous rescues briefly buoyed spirits, the grim reality of the hardships facing tens of thousands who survived the disaster cast a pall. In the Turkish city of Antakya, dozens of people scrambled for aid in front of a truck distributing children’s coats and other supplies.
Help the earthquake relief effort here.
(Associated Press)
