Turkish Hurriyet: The Kahramanmaraş earthquake is almost a rehearsal for the Istanbul earthquake!

Hurriyet newspaper reported that the expected earthquake, according to experts, in the city of Istanbul, will have more losses than those recorded in the southeast of the country, and will carry catastrophic economic and social consequences for Türkiye.

Hurriyet newspaper said, “According to earthquake experts, the expected Istanbul earthquake will outweigh the losses that occurred in Kahramanmaraş in terms of the damage it will cause, as well as the economic and social consequences… In other words, the earthquake in Kahramanmaraş is almost a rehearsal for the Istanbul earthquake”.

Hurriyet added that reports indicate that there are 1,164,000 buildings and 4.5 million apartments in Istanbul, each of which houses an average of 3.3 people.

With an earthquake of magnitude 7.5 or greater, 13,492,000 buildings are expected to be severely damaged, 39,325,000 buildings to be severely damaged, 136,746,000 to be moderately damaged, and 300,963,000 to be slightly damaged.

Hurriyet continued, “In the scenario of an earthquake of 7.5 or higher, the fact that the number of apartments expected to suffer severe and severe damage is more than 211,000 gives an idea of ​​the losses that apartments will incur on average 1.3 people, as there are 255,000 buildings in Istanbul that were built before 1980”.

Hurriyet indicated that 538 thousand of them were built between 1980 and 2000, while 376 thousand buildings were built after the year 2000.

It’s mentioned that after the Kocaeli earthquake in 1999, 70% of the buildings were built in Istanbul, that is, before the year 2000.

The fact is that 30% of them were built after the year 2000, and this does not mean that they are unsafe.

During the Kahramanmaraş earthquake, we also saw luxury complexes that were built a few years ago as earthquake resistant and inhabited by hundreds of people.

There are some buildings that were called earthquake-resistant residential complexes, which were planned according to the rules of earthquake resistance, collapsed while they were still under construction.

A number of seismologists in Türkiye recently predicted a devastating earthquake in Istanbul, as scientists mention that the city is located at the intersection of the Anatolian and Eurasian tectonic plates, 15-20 kilometers south of that part of the North Anatolian fissure that passes under the Sea of ​​Marmara.

This is what predetermines the seismic threat.

According to the latest official data, the death toll in Türkiye’s devastating earthquake has reached 38,044, while search and rescue work continues.

In turn, the Turkish Minister of Justice, Bekir Bozdag, said that 255 contractors are under investigation for building violations in the areas affected by the double earthquake that recently struck southern Türkiye.

The campaigns carried out by the Turkish authorities against the contractors are still continuing, while the data indicate that they will take an upward trend in the coming days, which was indicated by the words of the Turkish Vice President, Fuad Aktay, by saying that 131 people have been identified responsible for the destroyed buildings in 10 provinces.