Turkey’s engineers tell of unheeded warnings that turned buildings into death traps

'We weren’t taken seriously': Profit over safety in construction sector led to widespread quake destruction, building experts claim

A woman walks among destroyed buildings in Hatay, Turkey. Getty Images

A woman mourns a relative during the burial of one of the earthquake victims in Antakya, southeastern Turkey. AP Photo

A family photo is seen amid the rubble in Hatay. Getty Images

Syrian refugees in Turkey return to their home country following the deadly earthquake. AFP

Members of NGOs Deathcare Embalming Team and Turkish Kurt-Ar inspect the bucket of an excavator as they search for bodies in Kahramanmaras, Turkey. AP Photo

Dust covers a family photo album found in Antakya. AP Photo

A man made homeless by the 7.8-magnitude quake carries mattresses distributed by an NGO at a makeshift camp in Afrin, in Syria's Aleppo province. AFP

A cracked road near the quake’s epicentre in Kahramanmaras, Turkey. AFP

A rescuer stands near the site where Aleyna Olmez, 17, was rescued from the rubble of a collapsed building in Kahramanmaras, about 10 days after the quake struck. AFP

A rescuer holds a cat after it was rescued from the ruins of a collapsed building in Kahramanmaras. AFP

Quake survivors queue for food amid the rubble in Kahramanmaras. Reuters

Bedran, a local resident who lost his house in the earthquake, keeps warm in Antakya, Turkey. Reuters

A girl carries a box of water bottles next to a damaged mosque in Antakya. Reuters

A car lies crushed by parts of a badly damaged building in Samandag, Turkey. AP

Residentes remove their belongings from their destroyed house in Samandag. AP

Aleyna Olmez, 17, is rescued after being trapped for 10 days in Kahramanmaras. Getty

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, left, with Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in Ankara. AFP

A message scrawled on a car covered in dust from collapsed buildings in Antakya, Turkey. AP

Destruction in Antakya. AP

A cracked road leads to a flooded area in Antakya. AP

A man looks bewildered at the site of collapsed buildings in Hatay, Turkey. EPA

Numbered stones near graves of earthquake victims at a cemetery in Adiyaman, Turkey. EPA

A makeshift camp set up amid the rubble in Antakya, south of Hatay. AFP

A woman holds her baby inside a tent in a camp in Antakya, Hatay. AFP

Greek and Turkish rescuers are at work to extract bodies of victims from the rubble in Antakya. AFP

Samar Hamouda, 44, recalls her experience of the earthquake destroying her home, at Tishreen Hospital in Latakia, Syria. Reuters

A damaged house in Jableh, Syria. Reuters

Photos of missing children left in hope in Kahramanmaras, Turkey. Reuters

People collect copies of holy books from the rubble in Kahramanmaras. Reuters

Rescuers search for survivors under the rubble of a collapsed building in Kahramanmaras. Reuters

People carry a bodybag as residents wait for their relatives to be pulled out from the rubble in Hatay. AFP

Dust covers a family photo album found in the debris of a building in Antakya. AP

Portuguese rescue team members try to free the dog named Tarcin from the rubble in Antakya in Hatay. EPA

An injured survivor at a makeshift hospital set up at Turkish Bayraktar warship anchored near Iskenderun city, southern Turkey. AP

A makeshift hospital set up at Turkish Bayraktar warship anchored near Iskenderun city, southern Turkey. AP

Britain's King Charles III (C) meets with members of the Turkish diaspora community who have been collecting, packaging and organising the transportation of food, blankets and warm clothing for people who have recently been affected by the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria, during a visit to the West London Turkish Volunteers, in Hounslow, greater London. AFP

People stand by the fire next to the ruins of a collapsed building in Elbistan, Turkey. Reuters

Destroyed buildings in Syria's rebel-held village of Atarib, in the north-western Aleppo province. AFP

Rescuers carry Fatma, 15, who was pulled out from the rubble in Hatay, Turkey. Reuters

A displaced woman receives food inside a stadium in Kahramanmaras, Turkey. Reuters

People lineup to receive aid supplies at a makeshift camp in Iskenderun city in southern Turkey. AP

Humanitarian aid provided by Saudi Arabia for survivors of the February 6 earthquake are unloaded at Aleppo Airport in northern Syria. AFP

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan addresses the World Government Summit in Dubai via video link. Antonie Robertson/The National

A man walks between trains being using as shelters in Iskenderun, southern Turkey. AP Photo

A woman and children inside a train being used as shelter after the earthquake, in Iskenderun. AP Photo

Tents erected in a school yard for Syrians who have lost their homes after the deadly quake, in the rebel-held town of Harem in Syria. Reuters

A woman walks by the destroyed Habib-i Neccar mosque in the historic southern city of Antakya in Hatay, Turkey. AFP

Rescuers pull out a 12-year-old Syrian girl, Cudi, from the rubble in Hatay. AFP

Amar, a Syrian refugee living in Turkey, looks on as search for survivors continues in Kahramanmaras. Reuters

Displaced people keep warm by a fire in Kahramanmaras, Turkey. Reuters

Earthquake survivors receive distributed meals in Golbasi, Turkey. AP

A woman stands amid boxes of donated clothes in Golbasi, Turkey. AP

A man walks near a damaged building that leans on a neighbouring house in Golbasi, Turkey. AP

UN emergency relief co-ordinator Martin Griffiths stands amid quake-damaged buildings in Aleppo, Syria. Reuters

Delegates observe a moment of silence for the Turkey–Syria earthquake before the start of the World Government Summit in Dubai. Pawan Singh / The National

People keep warm by a fire as the search for survivors continues a week after the earthquake in Kahramanmaras, Turkey. Reuters

A child receives food in Kahramanmaras, Turkey. Reuters

A dog is seen through a glass door in Kahramanmaras, Turkey. Reuters

Children walk in the street with food boxes in Kahramanmaras, Turkey. Reuters

A minaret stands as the sun rises over the earthquake-hit city of Kahramanmaras, Turkey. Reuters

Follow the latest news on the earthquake in Turkey and Syria

The shocking trail of destruction stretching across southern Turkey has horrified the world since last week’s earthquakes but in many ways it was a catastrophe long foreseen by the country’s engineers and geologists.

For years experts have been warning that slipshod building practices and a lack of regulatory oversight would compound loss of life when a powerful earthquake eventually hit. Their warnings went largely unheeded.

“We have been discussing these things and sharing our information for years with the authorities but we weren’t taken seriously,” Taner Yuzgec, president of the Chamber of Construction Engineers, told The National.

“In relation to the earthquake threat, 65 per cent of buildings in Turkey are considered risky. In 2011 a strategic plan to identify all the dangerous construction was put in place. This should have been completed by 2017 and those at risk should have been brought up to standard or demolished. Unfortunately, that wasn’t carried out.”

More than 41,500 buildings collapsed or were damaged enough to require demolition across the 10 provinces affected by the 7.8-magnitude quake, according to the Environment and Urbanisation Ministry. The death toll in Turkey reached nearly 32,000 by Tuesday afternoon as the Turkish Enterprise and Business Confederation estimated the economic cost at $84.1 billion.

Turkey is crisscrossed by two main fault lines, leaving it prone to deadly quakes. But despite regular disasters, such as the one that struck Elazig three years ago, killing 41 people, or the quake that hit Izmir in 2019, killing 116, criticism has been aimed at current building standards.

After a 1999 earthquake that struck east of Istanbul, killing about 18,000 people, legislation was passed to tighten construction standards and building inspection. However, weak enforcement of building codes have undermined efforts to tackle the danger.

In 2018 the government granted amnesties to those breaching regulations, allowing the owners of dangerous structures to pay a fine to avoid having to bring their buildings up to standard.

“There have been a lot of mistakes in the construction industry,” Mr Yuzgec said. “There are problems with design, with the materials used and with the use of workers who aren’t properly qualified.

“We see the ‘soft-floor’ system’ where shops are on the lower floor of buildings and also we’ve seen buildings collapse into each other. Many buildings are built on soft ground without deep enough foundations. So there are many issues that make buildings unsafe.”

In many cases, residents have said shops and other businesses on the ground floors of apartment buildings have cut-away support columns to increase floor space.

In Diyarbakir, a block of 32 apartments sitting above commercial space collapsed while three other blocks in the same complex remained upright.

“Everyone knows they cut the columns in the ground floor and there was a legal case opened against them four months before the earthquake,” said Veysi Buldu, 58, who lost his uncle in the building.

“That is why one block fell and the other three are still standing.”

At other collapsed buildings around the city, where at least 380 people died, residents shared similar stories of businesses below residential floors making dangerous alterations to the building’s structural integrity.

“Profit maximisation is considered the first priority and safety comes later,” said Mr Yuzgec, who recently returned from the earthquake zone.

A building contractor in Diyarbakir, who asked for his name not to be used for fear it would lead to him being blacklisted for work, said illegal practices were widespread in the industry.

“I’ve worked all over the country — here, Ankara, Istanbul, Antalya — and it’s the same everywhere,” he said. “The main contractors are always asking us to cut costs, even if it is illegal and risks lives.

“They want to use cheaper materials or not to install so many columns or beams. If we say that it is against the law, they just say: ‘Don’t worry, we’ll pay the fine.’ I refuse to work with some companies because of this.”

At least 134 people have so far been detained as part of a series of investigations into building standards since the earthquake on February 6, Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag said on Sunday, while another 114 are being sought. Some of the suspects were arrested at airports, apparently attempting to flee abroad.

But there is a growing clamour for the public officials who turned a blind eye to shortcuts to also face justice.

“The primary crime is that committed by the contractor but there are also the people who were responsible for the project, the building site chief and those signing papers in the municipality,” said Mr Yuzgec.

“I think this legal process will become wider and wider over time. However, the local or national politicians are the biggest criminals because they are the ones who continued this system.”

The destruction of last week’s quake has raised fears of future tremors across the country, particularly in Istanbul, a city of 16 million sitting near the North Anatolian fault.

“We could not make Istanbul earthquake-resistant in 20 years because there was no will,” said geologist Naci Gorur, a member of Turkey’s Academy of Sciences. “If we are going to prepare Istanbul for an earthquake, the first thing we need to address is the building stock. Buildings should not collapse or kill people.”

But those whose warnings were ignored for so many years are pessimistic about the possibility of serious reform.

“There are a lot of things that should be done immediately, even tomorrow, but for this to be successful a very strong political will is necessary,” Mr Yuzgec said. “Because we don’t have that political will today, I don’t have much hope that things will be done.”