'Istanbul's 3,000 buildings teeter on edge of collapse'

An estimated 2,000 to 3,000 buildings in Istanbul are on the brink of collapse, experts have cautioned.

The warning comes after a three-story building in Küçükçekmece collapsed suddenly, resulting in one death and eight injuries. The building collapsed around 8:40 a.m., prompting a large-scale emergency response involving health, fire, police and search and rescue teams.

Mehmet Fatih Altan, the head of the Civil Engineering Department at Istanbul Arel University, remarked on the situation, highlighting that these buildings are susceptible to collapse even in the absence of an earthquake.

“We experience two to three such incidents in Istanbul almost every year,” he stated.

He highlighted that the collapsed building was constructed in 1988, as per Istanbul Governor Davut Gül's statement, and was not subject to the earthquake regulations introduced in 1998, 2007, and 2018.

Altan questioned whether the building had been checked for compliance with these regulations and its structural integrity.

Altan emphasized the importance of inspecting buildings, particularly those built before 2000, for illegal modifications and overall safety.

“We always want engineering services to be obtained, checked and all precautions to be taken and only then we want people to live in them.”

He revealed that laboratory tests show 95 percent of buildings in the area are not earthquake-resistant. “These buildings are ticking time bombs,” he warned.

Engin Keçeli, chairman of the Istanbul Builders Association, echoed Altan’s concerns, urging for immediate evacuation and transformation of identified risky buildings.

Keçeli called for legal regulations to enforce these actions and suggested declaring widespread mobilization in Istanbul due to the approximately 300,000 deteriorating buildings, 60,000 of which are near collapse.

“It is not right to leave this to the will of the people. There should be a legal regulation in this direction. We need to get past the 'Are you in or not' part. A state of emergency must be declared in Istanbul,” he asserted.