Turkey-Syria Earthquake: The Reason for Its Deadliness

It is sad to hear that more than 46,000 people have gotten killed by a large earthquake that occurred along the border between Turkey and Syria. Today, we’re looking at what made this earthquake extremely deadly and why experts say it could have gotten prevented.

This earthquake struck on February 6th, 2023, at a magnitude of 7.8, followed by a series of aftershocks and tremors. One such aftershock reached a scary 7.5 in magnitude. Earthquakes aren’t uncommon compared to other places, as the Turkey-Syria border roughly outlines a boundary of Earth’s tectonic plates. Even though there have been many earthquakes with a higher magnitude than this one, the immense fatalities it caused have led experts to conclude that one likely factor was the poor standard of the buildings themselves.

Before we get into that, let’s overview how earthquakes happen. The Earth consists of multiple layers, the outermost of which is the crust, made up of tectonic plates. Pressure changes in the mantle (the layer below the crust), made up of molten materials and minerals, causes volcanic eruptions. Earthquakes, however, are caused by the shifting of the previously mentioned tectonic plates. Tectonic plates shift very slowly, only a couple of centimetres yearly. However, that moving can cause the tectonic plates to smash or slide over each other, causing earthquakes.

Now back to the problem with these buildings. In most cases, buildings have protection against earthquakes, like secure foundations, strong core structures, and counter-weight mechanisms for skyscrapers. However, in the region along the Turkey-Syria border, especially in Turkey, we can find “soft-storey buildings.” As the name may imply, these structures aren’t necessarily the most earthquake-resistant. The term refers to buildings where a level is significantly weak in lateral load resistance compared to the stories above it.

It may have been a coincidence there were construction miscalculations in these buildings. However, after a walk-through of the actual construction of these buildings, you could see why these buildings are vulnerable to earthquakes. Typically, a soft-storey building is similar to normal ones, with multiple stories and columns along the outer walls. But the difference between this building compared to normal ones is the soft storey (usually the ground level), where the side facing the street is partially hollow, and half of the above floors only get supported by two columns. The other half mimics the construction of the above levels and has weight-bearing walls. This hollow space on the ground floor can accommodate street-side shops, car parking spaces, additional living spaces, and more (see illustration included with this article).

Even though the construction of soft-storey buildings seems genius, its fatal flaw also lies within its benefits. The two columns on the soft storey, which bear the weight of the floors above, are often made of wood or other fragile materials. So when these buildings got hit by that devastating earthquake, these unstable, wooden columns gave out first, resulting in a “pancake collapse,” where the building collapsed toward that one side. Pancake collapses can turn out extremely deadly, as tons of heavy construction material from the levels above would crush the people below.

After analysis of the earthquake, experts concluded this was the main reason for the many fatalities and that some could have gotten prevented. So why are there many of these buildings, and why weren’t they reinforced beforehand? In truth, developers of newer structures know these structures are risky. However, many such buildings in places such as Turkey got built before a clearer understanding of these risks, so many buildings didn’t get more advanced precautions during construction.

These buildings didn’t get attention when being built. So why didn’t they get improved later on? One factor is the cost. Soft-storey buildings frequently appear worldwide, especially in places like India and Turkey, so reinforcing that many columns and walls could get expensive, resulting in only a tiny percentage of these buildings getting that treatment. As for newer structures, many contractors (in the Turkey-Syria region) didn’t keep up to standard, resulting in weak building structures. So in the recent earthquake, those not-reinforced and self-proclaimed “stable” buildings collapsed.

After this deadly quake, Turkish authorities have started cracking down on these irresponsible property developers, sending out arrest warrants and already detaining some. Meanwhile, both governments face backlash over their delayed response to the deadly earthquake. Waging civil war has long plagued Syria, while many criticize the corruption within the Turkish government.

In conclusion, this earthquake has exposed many fundamental problems, though at the high cost of tens of thousands of lives. May those who died in this quake rest in peace. That’s the end of this production from the New News Newsminute, and thank you for reading.