Destroyed buildings in İzmir not earthquake resistant, reports show

ISTANBUL

Two reports prepared by an İzmir district municipality concerning two buildings that collapsed after a 6.6 magnitude earthquake that hit the Aegean region on Oct. 30 have come to light.

The reports prepared by the İzmir’s Bayraklı Municipality Earthquake Research Center on the request of the residents have revealed that the buildings were not earthquake resistant, according to daily Hürriyet.

The Rızabey Apartment was licensed in 1993 with eight floors plus the ground floor, according to a 2012 report prepared for the building, which was built on the basis of 1975 earthquake regulations.

The Doğanlar Apartment built in 1990 was also as per the 1975 earthquake regulations, according to the report. However, a report dated Feb. 27, 2018, outlined the risky state of the building.

“Door jamming and deformation were detected in the shops on the ground floor due to earthquakes and liquefaction on the ground. There are bulges on the shop floors, visible deflection, separation and deformation on the first-floor balconies among the findings,” the report said.

“Deformation, rupture, cracks and spillages on the exterior were detected in the earthquake dilatation joint between the two buildings,” the report added.

Meanwhile, Fatih Çekirge, a Hürriyet columnist, also claimed that the land the Doğanlar Apartment was built on was used for agricultural purposes in 2000.

In a photo included in Çekirge’s piece, it is seen that there is a small house in the field and gardens around it.

“It’s officially a field, a wetland, which is similar to a stream bed. This huge building that was destroyed like a game of Lego was built there,” Çekirge wrote in his column on Oct. 1.

The dead bodies of four people have been removed from the wreckage of the destroyed seven-story Doğanlar Apartment and eight-story Rızabey Apartment.