How these buildings made Turkey-Syria’s earthquake so deadly

And can the buildings be fixed?
Subscribe and turn on notifications 🔔 so you don't miss any videos: goo.gl/0bsAjO
On the morning of February 6, a pair of powerful earthquakes, 7.8 and 7.6, hit Turkey and Syria. On top of that, the region was hit with strong aftershocks, which made the destruction even worse. The death toll is already in the tens of thousands with many victims still lying beneath the rubble.
Multiple factors led to this earthquake being so devastating, like fault lines, neighborhoods still reeling from war and delayed rescue missions. But what made this earthquake particularly catastrophic was unsafe buildings. According to the Turkish government, over 6,000 buildings collapsed because of this earthquake. And that’s likely because of the way they were built.
This video will explain how bad building design made the Turkey-Syria earthquake more deadly than it had to be.
Correction: The map at 5:49 has been updated with correct labels. A previous version of this video had incorrectly swapped Peru and Ecuador. Additionally, the animation at 2:32 was updated to reflect the columns can often be made out of brittle concrete.
Sources and further information:
This report from Turkish civil engineers helped us understand the impact the Izmit earthquake had on soft story buildings: www.bupim.com/yayinlar/bupim-p...
This report published in the Canadian Journal of Civil Engineering gave us some context on the history of Turkey’s building codes: www.researchgate.net/publicat...
This explainer by BBC helped us learn more about misleading advertisements in Turkey:
www.bbc.com/news/64568826
This article published in The Conversation explained why Turkey’s buildings collapse like pancakes:
theconversation.com/earthquak...
And we highly recommend this newsletter by Andrew Revkin on losses and lessons from Turkey and Syria’s earthquake
revkin.substack.com/p/gauging...
For more of Vox's reporting on Turkey, listen to Today, Explained's episode here: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast...
Make sure you never miss behind the scenes content in the Vox Video newsletter, sign up here: vox.com/video-newsletter
Vox.com is a news website that helps you cut through the noise and understand what's really driving the events in the headlines. Check out www.vox.com
Support Vox's reporting with a one-time or recurring contribution: vox.com/contribute-now
Shop the Vox merch store: vox.com/store
Watch our full video catalog: goo.gl/IZONyE
Follow Vox on Facebook: / vox
Follow Vox on Twitter: / voxdotcom
Follow Vox on TikTok: / voxdotcom

[@katha3205]

Just read an article about a town in Turkey named Erzin - since the town council wasn't corrupted and insisted on building in compliance with the codes, there is not a single one illegal building. Few buildings have suffered minor damage, but there are no collapsed ones, nor injured or dead people. Also a brand new library in Adiyaman built by EU standards survived - and it's a full glass facade structure - not a single pane cracked. So there is a direct example that it can be done.

[@Daniel-bn1jf]

Just read the mayor's statement today

[@ghostin3992]

and he talked about how many contractors trash talked him and tried to get him penalty for not allowing them to steal material from constructions. he gave a interview and talked about how he was able to go to sleep comfortably for his decision. very refreshing to see a man that knows what he's doing at such positions.

[@MistarZtv]

That mayor saved so many countless lives and protected countless families from financial ruins.

[@henrycooper3431]

@@ghostin3992 he is a treasure to humanity.

[@El1society]

that’s the kind of mayor everyone needs

[@vibek14]

As a structural engineer, this is one of the most frustrating things you live with. These buildings are everywhere. You see death everywhere you walk. And I live in Nepal.

[@annasolovyeva1013]

Welcome to Russia. No earthquakes in the european part of country at all. You have to bulid strong and heavy for the climate, though. I'm talking thick walls (for an old school brick buliding it ... starts at 50 cm, in northern regions - 80), central heating, strong roofs, high first floor, the temperature revolving around the freeze, so...

[@burtan2000]

Whenever there's a major disaster in modern times, and the dust settles, you almost always learn about how an engineer, or a group of engineers, had desperately tried to raise awareness. You learn about the people that lost sleep before the disaster, frearing it'd happen, and then lost even more sleep after bc they constantly wonder if there was more they could've done to convince people of the danger. If people dig deep enough, you learn about how decisions were made to value engineer something or corners were cut to save money or make rich people richer. To minimized cost overruns. In college, they tried to emphasize the importance of economics in engineering. But you don't really understand how economics can be life and death until you're out in the real world

[@frustratedpanda212]

@@annasolovyeva1013 Is it easy to migrate to Russia? I mean to get Russian nationality?

[@annasolovyeva1013]

@@frustratedpanda212Russian citizenship? not very easy, but certainly doable. Need to spend some time in Russia on a living permission (with it you can work and live, but can't vote and serve in the army) and pass a language exam. Russian is certainly required, as everyone speaks Russian here and the buliders totally don't speak English. As for the buliding sphere specifically - lots of immigrants working there, especially on the lower positions. If you could affirm your diploma and your skills, you could do your qualified job. However, Russia has it's own standard system in everything, including buliding (sketching and documentation to concrete to windows to nuts and bolts to structure - including earthquake proof for earthquake prone regions and insulation for -50 and -70). So I recommend to apply for a local masters program if you have spare money. Russian tech university, especially the good ones, are high-level, hard to study, heavy with fundamental stuff and relatively cheap compared to their western analogues. The toughest parts are calculus, material resistance and tech sketching (and you may be required to sketch by hand at times).

[@Repeaterbeater]

@annasolovyeva1013 look up Kamchatka 1952 earthquake. No where near with death toll, but one of the highest in Richter scale that was recorded.

[@shovanabajracharya]

"Safe housing is a human right." Wow so true! Being alive is a human right. A person's house should be the safest place for them.

[@RJWaynerium]

Eh they can live in a tent and be safe

[@maca1996]

As someone born and raised in Chile, it is so terrifying seeing how much destruction happens after an earthquake in some places. In our last big earthquake (2010, 8,8°) "only" 50 buildings fell and 500 people died (mostly because of the tsunami, not the earthquake itself). So honestly, I hope regulations are made everywhere in the world, so no one else suffers or dies from someone's mistakes or lack of knowledge or simply corruption. My heart goes to them

[@justjack3075]

You can't just build in the same place where earthquakes hit on a regular basis ,) They have a mosque which was just destroyed 4th time in only 30 years 😂 When are people going to learn how to adapt.

[@JawadBsaileh]

@@justjack3075 which country do you live in then ?

[@justjack3075]

@@JawadBsaileh the country is called none of your bussiness

[@JawadBsaileh]

@justjack3075 being so insecure Huh? but you definetly replied during late hours for the country you're talking about

[@InXLsisDeo]

Sounds like Chile is less corrupt than Turkey, nowadays. Perhaps because total corruption is an inevitable consequence of authoritarian regimes, something that populations learn at their own expense.

[@furkangunes8631]

As a Turkish citizen, I am grateful to you for making this video. Such statements (like a major earthquake is approaching or the buildings are not resistant to earthquake) are made by important professors in our country and even by you, but they continue to be neglected. That's the main reason.

[@maxpro751]

Your country is poor, they can’t afford that type of infrastructure and you have to understand that. Maybe the US needs to send some aid to Turkey.

[@souvikrc4499]

@@maxpro751 it’s not that. They CAN afford it, but the Turkish construction sector is corrupt, and the Turkish government turned a blind eye to that for years, in the name of quick construction and profit.

[@srta.carlota696]

@@maxpro751 if they can't afford that type of infraestructure the don't constructe insecure houses and buildings much less deny they are in fact not under regulation

[@KandeeKush]

​@@maxpro751 mexico as a third world country does a better job. How do you explain that? Don't excuse that as poverty. People who build apartment complexes are FAR from poor, in usa and europe alike.

[@hambatuhan3165]

I'm so sorry about what happened to country, hope this could be a lesson for the future.

[@Blue_Azure101]

“But they weren’t enforced due to corruption” -the story of humanity at its finest.

[@louisliu5638]

and in an earthquake zone. would be interesting to see how the corrupt govt./build/contractors live and where they live.

[@ivanlee05]

we've left "Natural Selection" thousands of years ago.. so we came up with new solution to maintain Population.. and it's called "Corruption".

[@jonspengler5891]

Turkish tradition at its finest….

[@RyszardRudy]

capitalism at it's finest.

[@butbunwin3107]

It is trump's fault base on vox ;D

[@InnerFire6213]

Went to Turkey last November. We stayed in an airbnb on the 4th floor. The building was.. flimsy, every step you take could be felt by another person around. Come to think of it there was a night when it felt like the whole building was shaking for like 10 minutes. Both my brother and sister in law noticed it. We thought it was because of some big lorries moving in front of the building or something. Man if the quake was a little stronger that could've been me under the rubble.

[@hakanyildiz8888]

I've been living with this feeling for years :( A storm or a door that shuts down due to a wind flow in the house might be enough to feel that the building shakes.

[@AppalachianRancher]

I'd say it was a couple enjoying each other

[@kewintaylor7056]

😨😱😱😱🙀

[@user-hm5zb1qn6g]

That was definitely an earthquake. I've experienced that same ''huge empty gravel truck rumbling by the front door doing 50" sound and feeling. And those were earthquakes between 4-5.

[@InnerFire6213]

@@user-hm5zb1qn6g yeah i think it was a minor earthquake too. It's too long to be caused by some vehicles. I thought it was a normal occurrence there because I don't hear anyone else in the building panicking

[@shinyagami8843]

If an earthquake like this ever hits Athens we’re going to have millions of deaths. Corruption & poor construction practices are rampant here too… My condolences to our neighbors, sorry for your losses 🙏

[@dantepr1566]

dude, do whatever you have to and can do about it. below the surface of the aegean sea is no joke

[@nilyedits]

Destroy old buildings and renew them as soon as possible

[@GrecoLefteris]

Bruh... Buildings in Athens are much stronger... You can't seriously compare the type of buildings in Pakistan or turkey with the design in Athens.

[@shinyagami8843]

​@@GrecoLefteris “bruh” did you even watch the video? Our buildings are built pretty much the same way so that people can park their cars under them. As for quality in construction, the last apartment building I was living in has tilted about 10° due to subsidence & the one before that had mold issues even though it was newly constructed. So yeah patriotic feelings aside, our constructions are just as bad. BTW the earthquake that hit Athens back in ‘99 was a mere 5,9 one and more than 100 people died. Hundreds of buildings had cracks you could put your fist in & were deemed uninhabitable. A 7,8 would flatten half of Athens. FYI each whole number increase in magnitude represents a tenfold increase in the measured amplitude, it represents an 32 times more energy release. So what they experienced in Turkey was 20 times stronger than the one in Athens in ‘99 & the energy released was 64 times that. Let that sink in…

[@a4andrei]

Corruption and negligence is at the core of every problem. People usually ignore things until the inevitable happens. It's always been like this and we just never learn.

[@HardRockMaster7577]

Always been this way.

[@michaeladkins6]

The Ohio train derailment carrying toxic chemicals fits that as well. The company that owns the trains just went through a massive buy back of stock rather than replacing brakes from the 1800s.

[@maearcher4721]

Sometimes we do learn. In my country a walkway for pedestrian collapsed in capital and there were casualties. It sparked massive interest of public and politicians into conditions of our briges. Including bridges for cars. So all main briges in the country were checked(we're small country). Half of them failed the inspection and next summer plenty of them were already being rebuild, and about third of the rest had next to them signs that only low weight vehicles could cross them! (and they got rebuild later). But did the other countries learn from our example? No, because Genoa Bridge happened several years after...

[@esrat2508]

exactly

[@a4andrei]

@@maearcher4721 but the point was to take action before a catastrophe happens.

[@eve_squared]

One of the worst parts of knowing about these kind of things, is that when you tell people of how actually dangerous stuff is they brush it off until something horrible actually happens.

[@cptrikester2671]

Even when something horrible is happening, some people will still ignore it. 2020 -> 2023.

[@Oll1000]

They don't merely brush it off, they ridicule you. Often from a position of power, potentially leading to a public loss of face for you.

[@The_DC_Kid]

That's humans for ya, heads in the sand right up until catastrophe strikes. Then they say "Why didn't anyone warn us it was a possibility?"

[@JawadBsaileh]

that's exactly applicable to god's prophets who warn those who deny and disbelief the massage until they punishment is done to them in this world or in the afterlife , quite THE human nature you would claim understanding

[@InXLsisDeo]

@@The_DC_Kid Not just right up until catastrophe strikes, but right up until they are personally struck by the catastrophe and suffer the consequences. Otherwise, they are completely numb and have zero regard whatsoever for others. Never put these people in charge of anything.

[@starburstgalaxy8365]

Thank you for this video. It explains the immense level of dishonesty, corruption, greediness that took place in my country for the last 20 years. I'm from Turkey and we have been devastated for 2 weeks already and two short weeks absolutely not enough to recover from this disaster. I was working in the field in Hatay as a translator for a foreign rescue team and the stuff that I saw was absolutely terrifying. I still feel the shock, the pain, the helplessness. On the other hand, I want to extend my heartfelt greetings to all those foreign search&rescue teams that have came here to help.

[@engintozak1767]

Teşekkürler 👍

[@user-ms7gt2km5f]

What can be done about city councils that are so corrupt they refuse to comply with codes and regulations even as the president is begging them to save thousands of lives? What can be done about our countries when for so many decades thieves and criminals are building dangerous places to steal with their corruption? Even if every single new building is finally, FINALLY, made safely, how can we fix the greed and selfishness of the past? Most buildings are built before 2000, in a different era completely, pretty much none of the old buildings follow proper standards. I guess rebuilding from zero is finally the chance to fix this, but it is so sad and so tragic

[@infledermaus]

That's what happened to the apartment complex in Northridge, California, on January 17, 1994 at 4:30 a.m. The building was held up by steel poles creating a parking area under the building. The poles/pipes failed during the quake causing the building to collapse the first floor on sleeping tenants, killing 16 and injuring many more. A mother gave her bed to her son who was home from college. He died. She'd slept on the floor and thereby avoided injury. Sad sad stories.

[@abdulhadisalk8435]

As a Turk what is said is true. I've been there since the first day of the earthquake. The biggest problem is hundreds of billions of dollars of corruption by the state.

[@abdulhadisalk8435]

I am sorry for my English

[@Farquad76.547]

@@abdulhadisalk8435 no worries bud

[@OrlOnEarth]

@@abdulhadisalk8435 your English is way better than many native speakers, nothing to worry about. Your president was elected 20 years ago after another major earthquake, saying he'll fix the country, when he actually just did worse, was more corrupt than the previous one. I hope he'll be gone soon, for your country sake

[@danycosson4393]

@@abdulhadisalk8435 cvu

[@myhalowithin]

@@OrlOnEarth I personally was in the 1999 Deprim. The shoddy construction materials for profit was fully understood after 17k people died. Would there have been loss, yes, just not to the extent our hearts are breaking for once again. I watched the leaders..... eat well while the people stood waiting until they were ready to give them anything. I love Turkey and my friends and Sister still there... Merhaba! tsktsktsktsk. The money was never the issue, it was the control. Strength to you and your family Abudulhadi Salik, and blessings of new reasons to smile. Prayer lifted.❤‍🩹 for quickened recoveries.

[@alphakennywon5194]

This is literally what came to my mind when I heard about the news. It's just so bizarre seeing so many buildings collapse like that. So sad to see how far corruption and greed can lead to. My deepest condolences to those families who lost their loved ones.

[@sibelkaraaslan]

"So sad to see how far corruption and greed can lead to." couldn't be explained better

[@0fficialdregs]

@@sibelkaraaslan agreed

[@0fficialdregs]

@@sibelkaraaslan and it's even worse when you consider they know they're in a region with harsh earthquakes, cheapening out on my material that leads to death should give the contractors the death penalty.

[@arfanarfan9284]

@@0fficialdregs true, they should look at Japan as an example.

[@0fficialdregs]

@@arfanarfan9284 ikr and notice how with every natural disaster, they fortify their country making people too safe.

[@LifeisBeautuful]

It is such a painful tragedy for the people of Turkey and Syria. Hugs, prayers and support to everyone.

[@Shinryuken15]

The quality of this channel's videos - no matter what the topic - never ceases to amaze.

[@wjlambert]

The last thing that I was taught as an engineer before graduation was that my skill and decisions could and likely would be the deciding factor on which lives would depend. The professor drove home this ideology so much that it was explicit to our passing the course. He never said anything about whether my boss would be corrupt and tell me to do it the cheapest way possible. Engineers have a duty to themselves and their fellow citizens to not compromise their integrity just because someone is cheap or greedy.

[@babagandu]

Cool story

[@jerycaryy4342]

Holy God dude! You are so freaking awesome and virtuous!! I'm sure, just totally sure, you would never compromise your morals when faced with your family starving because you didn't land a contract. Im just SOOO happy we have engineers like you saving the lives of literally millions of people. Give yourself a pat on the back if you haven't already done so 10 or 15 times.

[@babagandu]

@@jerycaryy4342 yeah he likes to toot his own horn 🎷 for sure

[@ToniVucic]

Don't mind the haters mate, this is the way

[@babagandu]

@@ToniVucic yeah, you shouldn't need a professor or take a class to know that lol 😆

[@takaotsu3592]

Every country that is prone to earthquakes should have strong buildings ideally. The government should set aside some funds to help out the people who can’t afford it.

[@souvikrc4499]

Turkey was supposed to have an earthquake fund, but it was reportedly embezzled.

[@cloud-nt8pe]

@Zaydan Alfariz it has nothing to do with the hyperinflation, we've been paying an earthquake tax since 1999 and the government has s budget of about 83 billion liras specifically for earthquakes and making better buildings because of this. the only reason they're not doing anything is bc the government is corrupt and they're stealing and pocketing that money.

[@takaotsu3592]

@Zaydan Alfariz it won’t be an overnight solution. Start now and few years down the line hopefully inflation situation will be different and the government can focus on necessary measures to protect the citizens from natural disasters. You have to start somewhere.

[@naram434]

@@takaotsu3592 inflation situation isn't magically just different/better after a while...

[@trainablemonkey9912]

Demolishing thousands of structures globally would not go over well.

[@heymorbeeus]

Yeah, pancaked collapse is such a horrible way to go. The lucky ones died quickly. In Florida there was a hotel that collapsed like these buildings. It wasn't even a earthquake that caused it. It was from poor maintenance. Corruption seems to be the same common denominator. God bless those poor souls. Such grief it's just heartbreaking. Stay Strong Turkey. 🕊️⛪❤️

[@requiemindminor5655]

Champlain Towers South wasn't a hotel, it was a condominium. RIP to all lost in these preventable situations.

[@MoroMoro1]

Great video. Everything was explained nicely along with the accompanying graphics and video.

[@Vox]

Hi all! Just to clarify, the wooden columns in our animations are representative of weaker columns overall. In Turkey, and other countries, columns may be made of cheaper concrete, rods or a different weaker material. Thank you for your feedback and for watching the video. - Rajaa Edit: The animation (at 2:32) has been updated to reflect that columns can often be made of brittle concrete.

[@Student0Toucher]

This is why wooden American homes are better

[@playsomething4029]

Thank you for your attention to detail and accuracy, it’s what makes Vox stand out

[@DavidSmith-wp2zb]

Good job. Here in Los Angeles we have thousands of soft story buildings. Many of the apartment buildings have undergone recent retrofitting, but as of yet, thousands of condominiums are not required to retrofit. Even worse, surrounding municipalities like Long Beach, haven't even begun any mandatory retrofits. Not to mention, these types of buildings were the primary source of lives lost during our last significant earthquake in Los Angeles, Northridge. Furthermore, soft story is only part of the problem. I can see a lot of collapse apparently the result of non-ductile concrete and unreinforced masonry in Turkey. Again, we have thousands of those buildings in Los Angeles, many of which have been reinforced, but are nonetheless dangerous for occupation. There is another concern here as well. What I call generally "untested construction" Buildings of new design, often of composite materials such as a mixture of concrete and wood-frame, and also typically more stories than traditional housing. These types of buildings have never been failure-tested in a real earthquake here the way URM, non-ductile, and soft story have been, and I worry what new design issues they may pose. To me, as a geologist, this is not a Turkey-only problem. It's ready to happen right here.

[@DavidSmith-wp2zb]

@@Student0Toucher always go for single-story wood frame. You will survive

[@BoondockGore]

Yeah no steal beams

[@1811tito]

I felt the earthquake here in egypt, i was watching tv series at the time, and i thought it's a weak earthquake happened in egypt only to know that it's happened in turkey and it's huge. Praying for turkey and syria

[@eges72]

It was felt all the way from Thrace as well

[@quantumzain]

TV series at 3 am? Huh makes you wonder if the quake gave a helping hand with a gentle shake

[@Noone-iw7es]

Same, I live in the north of saudi and felt it like it was just vibrating thing and I thought I was hallucinating yet heard the news about what happened in turkey! That was terrifying to be honest.

[@ripvanced]

@@quantumzain oh daddy earthquake hit it harder

[@joem7085]

Which TV series?

[@UsamaMahmoudSultan]

This is very insightful and informative, thanks

[@jennytai88]

When I grew up in Taipei I remembered experiencing earthquakes in my Aunty’s place which is on the 7th floor, it survived level 4s and level 6 earthquakes 😅 so ever since I was young I was curious about structures that withstand earthquakes. It’s obviously very very important 😢

[@knietiefimdispo2458]

If you live in an earthquake country with low corruption you are pretty safe ;- )

[@7ak]

Our condolences go out to all the Turkish people affected by this disaster.❤️ from Japan🇯🇵

[@abdulhadisalk8435]

As a Turk thank you to our Japanese brothers.

[@aliosman0]

❤️

[@humate9980]

Don’t forget the Syrians

[@Yeeter000]

What about the syrians

[@humate9980]

@성이름 can’t understand you and I can’t copy your text to put it in Google translate so sorry but if you want me to understand can you send the English term?

[@NicholasWang]

I was living in Tokyo during that second biggest earthquake record in history. I checked the video from Sendai, the biggest city closest to the quake center, to see if any buildings collapsed during the quake. None! I was so impressed! (All the destructions came from the Tsunami afterwards.)

[@Jun-Kyard]

The earthquake in the ocean is not as strong as on land. Also the fourth biggest. Second biggest is Alaska.

[@jingisukhan7988]

@@Jun-Kyard > The largest land earthquake recorded was on magnitude of 8.6 > all magnitude 9.0 and above were earthquake in ocean > "Earthquake in the ocean is not as strong as on land" Omkey

[@Jun-Kyard]

@@jingisukhan7988 My point is that the land is affected way less. Especially if the ocean is deep. A 9 in the ocean will feel lower depending on the depth and how far away it is. Most earthquakes in the ocean don't cause Tsunamis either as far as i know.

[@ckwind1971]

Japan really knows how to build safe buildings

[@LPOnePiece30]

@@Jun-Kyard Ok but doesn‘t change the fact that houses that were built according to the guidelines in Turkey still didn‘t collapse during these strong earthquakes. Engineering went a long way - nowadays the death toll CAN and SHOULD be minimized. We saw it in different districts and cities in Turkey, who actually didn‘t allow corruption to destroy landscapes

[@pamelag7553]

After all their prior suffering its so sad to hear that Syrian refugees were located mainly in these areas. Our hearts go out to the Turkish people and the Syrian people. Prayers for healing, safe reconstruction and better leadership over their lives. 😔♥️🙏

[@man08839]

Yes pray for Syria

[@omerirmak8459]

As a Turkish I’d love to thank you for being too sharp and accurate about this news. Too many people are died, earthquake is not the reason, reason is people who immoral and government that don’t inspect those buildings.

[@randygraham926]

A horrible tragedy compounded by the corruption at the highest levels of government in Ankara. Best of luck to the Turkish people moving forward.

[@ErikaRamirez-zc5fo]

I live in Mexico City and we deal with earthquakes too but many of us here are amazed about the damage scale in Turkey and Siria, even our AID and rescue teams are dealing with such a really big mess there. Our last big quake in 2017 showed us how terrifying is contractors and building companies with corruption or irregularities on construction process when they do their business, it's terrible because idk if they forgot people are living and paying (a lot of money btw) for owning an space only for your home to became your grave. But here we lost like maybe 10 new buildings and some old structures. Feel so sad, hope most of people still under the collapsed structures may survive and being saved on time, pray for Turkey and Siria and keep sending help and AID teams.

[@gustavomercado1599]

Most of the collapsed structures in the earthquake you mention were old masonry buildings (edit: from the colonial era) and very few new ones (2nd edit: from the 70s and such). For non Mexicans: we carry many drills throughout the year and almost everyone has at least sense of what to do

[@kargi42]

Thanks for all the help you have sent all the way across the ocean. And I am also sorry for the rescue dog, Proteo. I am sure, he won't be forgotten for a long time. Thank you Mexico 🇲🇽

[@Hamoodi_TV]

Syria*

[@reflectionsinthebible3579]

It’s because your people aren’t very educated. Many are manual laborers who are given work because they are willing to work and aren’t taught all of the safety standards. Also, way too many of your people escape or have escaped to the USA because they can get paid more for the same work and they don’t have to go to school.

[@sunilkumara2877]

It is about concrete and not building. Companies day it is hard material but ideally it is not

[@davidci]

When she started showing examples of soft-story buildings, it just made me realize how many there are in the Philippines. Not to mention that it's also expected that there will be a huge earthquake in the future that has been building up for years now.

[@clarkjosephkent5047]

Just got back recently after traveling to Manila, it really is terrifying how old and tall a lot of infrastructures are and the fact that most of it are awfully close to one another is just disaster in the making. I really hope that the government is prepared for what's about to come considering that we are constantly being warned and reminded that this could happen to us as well at anytime.

[@wavemaker2077]

Those with columns are the old buildings made in the 50's and 60's. They are not very tall but will still crumble during a strong earthquake. Old buildings should be demolished and replaced with newer buildings. The government should strictly enforce the 50-years rule for the buildings. Demolish them after 50 years.

[@drekson23]

For sure and people weren't aware of building cheap and safety.

[@_No_Naem_]

Now that you mentioned it, my fear of the future "The Big One" is now increased tenfold 😵😵

[@tortangtalong1]

The old buildings yes. The new ones are built with poured concrete reinforced with rebars. Now, looking at Turkey, not a single rebar sticking out from all the rubbles.

[@garryferrington811]

We had a lot of collapsed buildings when the Northridge 'quake hit here in LA, particularly along the sides of the LA River. In the '30's, zoning prevented construction there, but of course that soon went away. I personally believe our death toll was massively undercounted.

[@knietiefimdispo2458]

Maybe zoning is some kind of comunism. Or it violates constitutional rights. Lives don't matter if someone makes profit.

[@rafaels3363]

Thank you for this video. Learned a lot.

[@hyilpoulle]

Japan had almost no building issues after a 9 earthquake... I don't want to imagine what a 9 degrees earthquake would mean in any other country!

[@inosukehashibara5930]

Its because japan has a very strict policy when it comes to building codes. You can be detained in prison for a decade if a single rule was not implemented on constructing the building.

[@dying7121]

i wonder what happened to your nuclear plant?

[@Kyle-kc8cw]

Most would likely not be as bad as Turkey. Upon quick search, other earthquake prone countries have experienced up to 8 and above magnitudes, with way lower deaths. Most of it occurring due to a following tsunami.

[@derpiru28]

@@dying7121 it got hit by a tsunami

[@williamlloyd3769]

@@dying7121 - didn’t design for worst case scenario. Loss of electrical power that drives cooling water pumps were the major root cause.

[@Solean_X]

I am from Chile and watching the disaster a strong earthwake can do against weak buildings makes me thankful that our construction code is being enforced.

[@verlorengeist]

las normas antisismicas chilenas son mas brigidas que la chucha, casi todos los años tenemos un terremoto en alguna parte del pais y no pasa practicamente nada

[@Solean_X]

@@verlorengeist es la magia de ser el mejor país de Chile!

[@Boss_Big]

"El mejor país de Chile" dice xd

[@datura0000]

@@Solean_X ¿qué otros países de Chile no llegaron a ser el mejor? ¿Podrías darnos un ejemplo o, sino, dejar el pisco de lado?

[@playaz7777]

Somos el mejor pais de chile hermano

[@khuzdaar]

Thank you for this well-informed video.

[@ninagora7335]

Thank you for creating this video

[@cgt3704]

We in Romania suffered two earthquakes in 1944 and 1977. The latter caused most of the building in the city centre to collapse. But our dictator, Ceaușescu, decided instead of rebuilding them to replace them instead with a giant and expensive palace whose majority of the rooms are still empty and left countless years of history to be lost This earthquake brought flashbacks from that event. Edit: i also have to mention that yeasterday ther was also an earthquake in Romania tho it was less catastrophic than in Turkey and Syria (even tho it could have been felt even in Serbia)

[@philipgates8693]

Your dictator was given his “final reward” for his corruption.

[@oana10]

:))))) you are talking about 2 diffrent things here. what has the palace of parliament to do with the other buldings? you family in Romania lives in an apartment given by the goverment for free, by Ceausescu and you are complaining :))))

[@cgt3704]

@@oana10 1. I dont live in an apartment. 2. How can ypu say you love for free when ypu have to pay taxes ? This isnt like Monaco. 3. If you knew how it was really like you would shut up

[@AJLMAU]

This guys use of “respectively” was meant to make him sound smart. I respectfully call him out on this

[@cgt3704]

@@AJLMAU i dont try to look smart. English is not my first language. Also why do you even need to reply when its not that big of a deal

[@osheridan]

42, 000 lives gone. RIP and condolences to the families 💔

[@bug688]

42000 lives AND COUNTING. This situation terrifies me.

[@colleen2671]

🙏🕊️

[@Stierenkloot]

It will be double this number

[@patt5085]

My country got hit by flood a few times and 100+ death toll is considered a major tragedy. Cant even begin to imagine 40,000.

[@barfdgsadf]

Real death toll at least half a million they dont record if they can’t identify

[@franug]

As a Chilean it's pretty confusing to see this. We are not a rich country - I guess we're similar to Turkey on GDP? - but our building code is top-notch, and people go by it. We have earthquakes all the time, so we know we have to construct sturdy buildings, otherwise they will fall (and they did constantly before 1960). It's a fact of life, hence everything here is constructed having that in mind. If you see the footage after the big earthquake in 2010, barely any buildings collapsed like those in Turkey; most of the destruction, actually, came from the tsunami, which is another issue altogether. I know there's corruption in Turkey, but it's still mind-boggling to me that government after government from a seemingly well-functioning, middle-income state couldn't enforce codes that would have saved thousands of lives. Such a tragedy.

[@emankamel4140]

Very informative and interesting without sensationalism. Thank you

[@sandile_mzinyane]

Strength to all the people who have been affected by this disaster, we are one ❤

[@deathdrone6988]

Even countries that aren't prone to earthquakes should probably take note of these recommmendation in case of a freak accident.

[@Octobre1986]

In the next centuries there will be a reforming of the world due to the tectonic movements. It is estimated that the Alps for example will grow massively and some parts of Europe break off the continent like Iceland. There should be preparations!

[@whatsursource]

Corrupt Politicians wont give two f's about it

[@maearcher4721]

Indeed, building collapses are not uncommon. Sometimes due to poor design, sometimes due to poor maintainance and it is sad that it often takes tragedy for people and politicians to start to condemn the bad practises. In my country a walkway for pedestrians collapsed in capital, and there were casualties. However it sparked public interest in safety of bridges, and next summer you couldn't drive anywhere around the country very well, because half of bridges have failed the inspection and were being rebuild!

[@mangopie7602]

Sadly the government would insist on cheaper materials because it's their money now not the citizen's

[@HaiLe-jq5go]

I can guarantee you that almost every building code in the world does account for the event of earthquake. The problem is that in countries that are rarely ever met with earthquake, contractors and even designers would sometimes ignore those requirements to cut down the cost.

[@ObjectionHearsay]

Pancake collapse is what happened at Champlain towers in Florida a year ago. Different circumstances but that's an almost a non-survivable collapse.

[@cabalenproductions6480]

Good point too.

[@blueanodized]

This is absolutely heartbreaking. I hope these poor people get all the health and support they need. 🥺

[@gabrieliusvejuotas4381]

And what about people in Ukraine? They deserve more help or less?

[@boxfullofwater4187]

​@@gabrieliusvejuotas4381 they do need help. What is even your point?

[@crossoutdude6769]

@@gabrieliusvejuotas4381a lot less😂 a whole lot less

[@FriendlyNeighbourhoodSpidey]

@@gabrieliusvejuotas4381 They've already gotten plenty of help lol

[@noelcollins2355]

Went to Hatay 10 days after the earth quake and the stench is unbearable. Man it is scary. I don't know if Maras, Adiyman and Hatay will ever recover. I love Turks and I hope they overcome this disaster. Allah Razi olsun pes etme yok!

[@enticingmay435]

Had this quake happened in Japan, the death toll would be a fraction of it is now. It’s sad that so many people died because of government incompetence and corruption.

[@oglcn11]

I would have been even less than a fraction.

[@HardRockMaster7577]

Corruption from the bottom to the top.

[@TenTenJ]

Does Japan have a warning alarm on digital phones? Tremors usually precede a large earthquake allowing a few minutes of escape. Do you have that sort of process? Are there any practice runs conducted with the public by anyone at anytime?

[@bonappetit7522]

@@TenTenJ Japan does have a very sophisticated warning alarm system on phones, radios, televisions. But people would he safe mostly because the buildings in Japan are upto the standard codes

[@EduardoEscarez]

@@TenTenJ There are some practice runs, but the idea of the early warning system is to give people time to stop activities and prepare for the shock, and also to stop medical operations, the rail network, and any activity that can become too risky with the quake. But in general, like here in Chile, it isn't recommend to evacuate a building because adds more risk of injuries by falling objects, and is assumed that the building can withstand the quake. The recommendation is to stay in your place or go to a safety place and take care of falling objects until the movement stops, and then evacuate only if necessary. And if you live in a building in the coast, the recommendation is to not leave your place unless is strictly required (like due to a fire) because of the additional risk of a tsunami or if you live in below the 3-4th floor.

[@bihayalimyok300]

Guys, as a young Turkish who experienced this earthquake from the first hand; never let an ideology (like religion) to manage your country. Always care about merit and country responsibilities. There are more than 100.000 citizen died. The gov says it's 45.000, but it's way too more. Only our own CİTİZENS and foreigners with beautiful hearts fed us after we lost our people and houses. So election is always very important for the faith of the country. I'm 19 and i keep saying since i was 12. The only way to keep our people safe is the way of our biggest ancestor Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.

[@Bati_]

“Science is the only true guide in life.” - M. Kemal Atatürk

[@qadio1]

maybe you do not support any ideology like religion but I am 100% sure that if another earthquake happens God Forbid and you stay under the rub the first thing you will do is to ask help from god and ask for forgiveness when nobody will hear you, that dead person will not save you and cannot give you hope

[@samisalama3033]

Bro, imagine a 4 story building falling on top of you, and you somehow survive, just to wait for days under the rubble to be rescued

[@ofaruky]

You are right about the example shown in the end, it was actually a soft-story building. My parents were living across that building, I walked past that building a lot of times and there were a couple of businesses on the bottom floor including a tailor shop which I've been to a couple of times.

[@SulaimanWar]

Hope your parents are ok!

[@EduardoEscarez]

Hope your family is ok 🙏🏽

[@ofaruky]

Thankfully my parents are ok, our building is heavily damaged, but it didn't collapse. Thanks for your good wishes 🙏

[@hagelslag9312]

I cannot imagine having to experience this. I'm glad your family is safe. It's horrible.

[@MienaMini_]

I‘m so sorry about this horrible situation happening :( Hope you and your loved ones will continue to be safe ❤

[@JinalDoshi91]

Pancake collapse is never used as a term in building failures related to seismic collapses. The collapses that are described in the video are known as soft story collapses. It is not because wood is used in the construction. Wood might be used in some remote villages with masonry walls on top. But in reality this was the cause of "infilling" masonry walls between building beam - column structural frame. This creates significant rigidity in the building stories above the ground floor, while the ground floor is without any of those infill walls. Ideally we would want the building to deform and sway evenly amongst all the floors from bottom to top, this infill masonry walls in between the columns, does not carry any building load, but instead makes it heavier. This adds to the seismic loads the building perceives. And since it cannot deform amongst all the floors above, all the deformation gets concentrated on the ground story, also known as open story in such scenarios. These columns are heavily reinforced and made of reinforced concrete. But the "relative" softness of this floor leads to all the deformation which leads to ultimate collapse. Unfortunately this is a renowned issue and very few countries are taking steps to prevent such construction. The peculiarity of this earthquake was also back to back earthquakes. A building no matter how good it is, is designed for experiencing one major earthquake. And since this site had major aftershocks, the heavily damaged building will unfortunately collapse as it would have been unsafe to occupy anymore. On top of it the fault characteristics were unique where the ground displacement, the rate and magnitude was large and all these densely populated regions were built right along the fault line.

[@thomasmasseycontrereras8740]

I have some questions about earthquakes and buildings, do you work in some of these fields?

[@JinalDoshi91]

@@thomasmasseycontrereras8740 Yes, I design buildings.

[@michaeldupont7864]

As a fellow structural engineer, that is a well written addendum to the above video. I'm glad I don't design in seismic zones.

[@mechtron2544]

Thank you for sharing your knowledge. I appreciate that we cannot 100% blame corruption in this case. There are many factors that need to be taken into account.

[@YesariVKoc]

The most important and scientific emphasis of your assessment is that the buildings that collapsed in the latest earthquake Turkiye were built along the fault line. Thank you for your eye-opening structural and geological assessment. My motto about earthquakes is "earthquake destroys in plain/lowland but not on rock" No matter what quality it is, it is inevitable that the building built on the fault and on the alluvial plain will collapse or be damaged. This determination can be easily demonstrated when the earthquake history of the world and Turkiye is observed.Therefore, plains and landslide zones should definetly be closed to settlement in order not to repeat such dramatic disasters in countries at risk of earthquake.

[@christophermiller3031]

Wow... Basements are so common here in Ontario Canada... It's actually hard for me to imagine any structure without the base of it going into the ground, especially an apartment building.

[@serafinacosta7118]

Usually precast in single family dwellings. On multi family buildings It’s reinforced concrete with steel rebar and mesh plus wooden poured forms.

[@DrRussell]

My late Father, an engineer for 40 years, was as committed to protecting life as a good doctor should be. He always approached design considerations as choices of life and death, whilst respecting financial limits. He made me a doctor by his example. The poor people of Turkey and Syria needed people like him.

[@bezagebremedhine5102]

May he rest in eternal peace of Christ✝❤

[@--Paws--]

Corruption kills in more ways than one. Like a weak foundation, everything crumbles when disaster strikes and everything is exposed but it's already too late.

[@deagin3830]

I work at a structural engineering firm and contractors here in America are bad about this too. Florida had an apartment building pancake collapse too, and it is just one of many contracting horror stories out there

[@viewer-of-content]

We do use more wood and foamed up drywall on a lot of buildings in the USA though. Wood and drywall are also much lighter than the steel and concrete, so if there is any pockets made that prevent the total weight falling on you, then you are much more likely to survive drywall smacking you in the face or wood to the shoulder, then steel and concrete.

[@viewer-of-content]

@Zaydan Alfariz I know it doesn't prevent anything. Most Wood and Reinforced Concrete buildings would both would get demolished by a 7.9 earthquake. As I was trying to say, "Light weight drywall and wood hurt less than steel and concrete when they hit you." If the building only partially collapses, then wood and fluffy drywall are safer than concrete and steel. There are wood buildings that have survived similar earthquakes in japan and china, but neither wood nor reinforced concrete would be built to withstand this earthquake if you're aiming for affordable housing. So wood and sprinklers/water towers are the smarter choice for cheap earthquake houses. because if it all breaks every 20 years in an earthquake, then make it as pight and survivable of a collapsing structure

[@newsofistanbul]

they should check the data onchydraulic fracking sights

[@angelgjr1999]

@@viewer-of-content We hardly ever get earthquakes in the east coast USA.

[@mariacheebandidos7183]

someone always has to bring up, well, "America is bad too" American media is almost all about all that is bad / wrong with America / Americans. so don't feel the need to always bring it up in videos / articles, ... about others.

[@TurinTuram]

That's so sad... Very well done video thought

[@kartezhnay]

I lived in Alaska for 17 years, ground shakes every day there, I have been through 7.2 and 7.5 earthquakes. It is scary, but guess what, there were no collapsed houses, and most importantly not a single death, guess why? building codes. It breaks my heart to think about how many people could be alive if building codes would be followed

[@cabalenproductions6480]

Good one for Alaska!

[@N0PL4Y3RS0NL1NE]

My friend from Turkey died in Hatay, after a big pole of bar and huge bricks fell on him and crushed him to death. The death counter still continues.

[@shelookstome8727]

I'm so sorry for your loss 🙏

[@absbi0000]

This video is not only a great reminder for Turkey, but for us at home in the US as well to lobby for safe structures. Living in Los Angeles I've seen so many of these soft story structures, and it's not like LA is free from earthquakes.

[@desu5070]

Thankfully a lot of them have been and are still being retrofitted. I think Los Angeles is the only city in the US doing this

[@mdashrafuzzamansunny2145]

Why do you Americans always make it all about you? This is about turkey

[@JP-xd6fm]

I bet for the next big one the death toll will be over a million people unfortunately. You should push to fix/rebuild before it's too late!

[@JP-xd6fm]

@@mdashrafuzzamansunny2145 But in the video mentioned places around the world with earthquake risk and US is one of them and they also have the same kind of structures "soft buildings as Turkey"

[@Just-Human]

@@mdashrafuzzamansunny2145 Why are you commenting on an American platform such as KZbin.

[@alessandrinchen]

I come from a city in Italy with a long story of earthquakes. The buildings are so well prepared and people too, that we hit record in 1979 when an earthquake rated 10 on the Mercalli Intensity Scale (the one rating the damages) caused no deads, apart from an old man that died by heart attack. Saving lives in these countries IS possible, but the government must do their part.

[@Morganasnotarobot0]

Wow! Thanks for sharing! Looks so Utterly Calamity!Sadly Powerful! Goodness! Gracious! Heart ❤️felt prayers to All love Ones 🤍❤️❤️🤍💚🙌🙏🙌❤️

[@elifnurdemir7011]

This video should use in our schools as educational material. As Turkish citizens what we lack is understanding and listening to what experts are saying and the cost of it is unfortunately paid by this magnitude earthquake.

[@e.i.1365]

No they don't, the state knows exactly what it needs to do and construct to prevent earthquake damage. Problem is that corrupt politicians, contractors and building companies don't abide by the existing rules.

[@arelee7974]

Because safety is always expensive.....but when tragedy happen it is more expensive than safety including lifeloss....

[@kashomaru]

Easy money > long time responsibility. Worst part is, THIS is accepted as the norm in many countries like Turkey. My deepest condolences to all my fellow victims and I hope this becomes a spark to light the candle of science not only in Turkey but in all similar countries.

[@Uzodesign]

This mindset is accepted in super religious countries because they believe praying to their gods will fix and prevent their problems. Smh.

[@Unknown-sf6cs]

At least turkey knew it will happen and got all of aid and the help needed but look at syria especially Aleppo, imagine seeing a person dying in front of yoy and you cant do anything because they’re stuck , i live in Damascus which is more than 400km away from kharamanas and still it had 4.7 magnitude in Damascus.

[@PosaPunto]

I'm turkish. The people in the country are the ones keeping this mind set alive. A big part of the country is very ignorant and uneducated but other parts are the exact opposite; very smart, well educated and seeing what's going on clearly but even tho they see it, they can't do anything about it because they are the %49. The ignorant part is dragging down the others with them.

[@zekicansatici]

Best fit comment for tr…

[@berat.74]

@@PosaPunto he kanka öyle mi olmuş bi tek siz akıllısınız demi

[@abdullahrawahahchannel1921]

Thanks for information

[@AMI12349]

Useful and informative coverage especially about the dangers of soft story buildings. It gets me a bit scared because we have so many of them here in Chiang Mai, Thailand! Here in Thailand, though, flooding during the rainy season is far more common than earthquakes. So houses were traditionally built on top of stilts; people lived in the upper floors, and the lower area was used for storage or to keep animals. And there are so many older buildings with apartments and/or offices upstairs and shops on the lower area that have metal doors that have to be pulled up or down to close or open them, making a huge noise! But this design makes sense - if flooding is going to occur, it's better that it occur in the parking area or the shop than in someone's residence. So that's a challenge, dealing with two or more different possible disasters that could occur, for which there are different and conflicting building requirements.

[@billykulim5202]

its the same with many other country, indonesia also have many soft building, its just that we havent yet experience 2 minutes 7,6 earthquake, if we do, then i will say suffer the same fate, its simple corruption in goverment

[@FoxyRiley]

I saw it on the news; a public hospital got a report telling it was not earthquake resistant a few years ago. The same hospital kept in use for years, until now and then it collapsed.. on the poor nurses, patients, doctors. There is a huge problem in this country that noone seems to be able to fix.

[@brodriguez11000]

"There is a huge problem in this country that noone seems to be able to fix. " Poverty.

[@lilithwesterner2898]

@@brodriguez11000 there is a huge problem in my country that no one seems to fix, "corruption".

[@nellieneil5203]

I watched a contractor who has a cheap invention to help homes in earthquakes. He took you to see what he had did - and it had withstood the force! The government, so far, have ignored him. He is Turkish. It was like a band he put around the old building, but below was a sight to see after the 'quake. It might be a start?

[@FoxyRiley]

it is carbon fiber I assume you're talking about, it is going to strengthen the colones but not make it earthquake resistant. Not even talking about how it is not going to be used in general because it costs more.

[@nellieneil5203]

@@FoxyRiley no it wasn't a.nd old hospital withstood the earthquake

[@avocadomonkey4892]

Heartbreaking to think of the lives that would not have been lost with stronger buildings. Condolences to Turkey and Syria.

[@perjand]

In countries with corruption and dictatorship, the country is ruled by arms until an internal unrest arises or disaster occurs, then it only leads to misery and decay.

[@beyzaerdem7653]

There are things to add. The region where earthquake happened had poorly constructed buildings not bc the area was populated by syrians. Though syrians probably lived in poorly constructed buildings bc they have little to no income. But instead simply these buildings were poorly made, many of them were new. Also these areas mainly consisted of villages until 15-20 years ago. Most of the buildings were built after 1999 when izmit earthquake happened. My mother is from KahramanMaras, she says the downtown area was still agriculture area till 2000s. My relatives who live in maras and suffered from the disaster say the same thing. So yeah they weren't old. But in Istanbul there are many buildings made before 1999 so idk if we'll survive that one

[@Splat654]

That is not only the stracture of buildings that added it it but also materials. My mom found an old video of russian architechtor who was inspecting turkish buildings and he discovered they mixed cement with sand to the point that it isnt cement anymore and make and fill the insides of the layers that make up the walls with foam. All for cheaper builds.

[@Splat654]

@Zaydan Alfariz That's true, general anywhere where corruption is spread wide we can expext poor building standarts or smth like that.

[@KasumiRINA]

One of the late-Soviet period buildings I lived in Ukraine was like that. Even though it was made from reinforced concrete, the cement connecting the blocks was so bad you could clear it away with a brush... it was mostly sand. We had one wall nearly collapse and had to fix it with new cement but the parts that are too big to fix with your own hands get the foam as filler. Foam is used around windows, door frames, and between insulation material to make the walls warmer, but also fixes big holes you can't just put putty in.

[@annasolovyeva1013]

@Zaydan Alfariz don't have to worry about earthquakes in the middle of one of the most geologically stable regions. More about the climate.

[@stephenmorrissey1254]

I walked through a partially constructed apartment building in Kuşadası a decade ago and was shocked at the horrible building practices used. It will topple on our property if ever there is a quake in the area. The first to drop will be the staircases as they were pinned with pencil thin amounts of concrete to each story. And don't get me started on the lack of water treatment and lack of electrical grounding.

[@niiii_niiii]

Horrible

[@orhangoren]

kuşadası suffered from izmir earthquake in 2020. my old neighbours cannot stay in their houses anymore due to damages in the walls. The city still experiences small but frequent earthquakes almost weekly. I am afraid kuşadası could be the next candidate for a major disaster

[@billx4266]

@@orhangoren omg im a tourist there, every year, i love kusadasi. I hope it will never happen there. Last year i felt a light tremor in the hotel... It was shaking a bit.

[@shemo_ghoul]

Im from Istanbul, Turkey. Thank you so much for covering this subject 💔

[@michellemitton4019]

The Nov 2018 7.0 earthquake in Alaska is a great example---the building codes saved us (and we live in a country governed by laws rather than the corruption so people actually follow codes). It's interesting to note that in Eagle River, just north of Anchorage where building codes are notoriously loose, the damage was much more severe.

[@DamplyDoo]

I feel especially sorry for all the children and babies who died... The innocents... So sad

[@ariiahd7414]

i'm form mexico and we have experience strong earthquakes too, the most recent ones in 2017 and while we did had the same problem with weak buildings it was nothing compare to what happened in turkey-syria. so many lives that could've been saved, a tragedy that could have been prevented

[@EnragedEagle]

Mexico is pretty good about enforcing building codes? Just curious

[@ariiahd7414]

@@EnragedEagle oh no, i definitely would say no, we still had like 400 deaths from the 2017 earthquakes and a bunch of buildings collapsed, also a lot of other states (aside from mexico city) affected still haven't recovered from the destruction that it caused. The main issue is that there's a lot of corruption in the government and the construction industry, we actually had a tragedy happening at a school because the principal build a house(? on top of the school building (against the codes, so it was a illegal modification) so it collapse and trapped and killed students and teachers :/ however, I think that since we've had a lot of really strong earthquakes (1985, 1991, two in 2017, 2019) we still have better infrastructure and a least there's a bunch buildings that actually follow regulations.

[@lewizzrocks]

@@ariiahd7414 I disagree, that number is kinda low for a city of 20 million people. RIP tho

[@RogueReplicant]

@@ariiahd7414 You know nothing about Mexico City! A major earthquake hit in the 1950's but the new Latin American Tower took it like a champ (hydraulic dampeners and subsoil analysis). You did not mention the mother of all earthquakes there: 1985. For a megalopolis like Mexico City, the casualties and number of collapsed substandard structures is extremely low.

[@ariiahd7414]

@@RogueReplicant al final del comentario dije que es verdad que México tiene muchos edificios que si siguen regulaciones y en el comentario inicial que lo que sucede en México no es nada comparado con otros países. pero tampoco puedes negar el hecho de que el gobierno y las constructoras son corruptas, si hablamos de temblores recuerda lo que pasó en el colegio Rembsamen, o la línea 12 (que es un buen ejemplo de corrupción, aunque no relacionada a temblores). Si bien es cierto que nuestra infraestructura cambió muchísimo después del temblor de 1985, todavía se siguen construyendo edificios que no siguen los códigos :/

[@SassyFontaine]

Los angeles has been doing soft story retrofits for years. The cost of these places collapsing far outweighs the cost of retrofitting.

[@jdcvideotutorials5996]

Very informative

[@dep7311]

To all my fellow civil engineering students, may we learn from this and follow the things our professors taught us especially related to our structural courses.

[@burtan2000]

Engineers know. It's the people making the decisions, often the people writing the checks, that will learn to listen closer to engineers. That engineers are far more important than lawyers and accountants (no offense to accountants, you all are important too. Lawyers can r&+ in h&11 with all the rap1sts murd&r&rs they helped stay free).

[@arfanarfan9284]

I don't think it's the engineers, they surely know all about this things. It's the higher power and their greed.

[@clitisswood7330]

Not the engineers fault, the people in finance, politic ....fault !

[@aredub1847]

engineers are always held back by those who talk, instead of doing.

[@lolollolol5654]

'engineers and architects. architects have in some european countries many things to say about structure too

[@Agamista379]

Was asking my brother, who is a civil engineer, that exact question yesterday, he gave me a more technical answer. It is very interesting that most of the videos showed the building falling the same way.

[@Work-ve4mj]

Could you pls share it I'm curious thanks

[@josephail6725]

Thanks to talk about that I'm from Syria and many buildings had fallen here due to the poor design of the constructions

[@purplelamington279]

My old school in new zealand busted down alot of the classrooms because they weren't up to earthquake standards. This was because of the christchurch earthquakes and yet my school is in auckland. Buildings should definitley be closed down if they cannot stand an earthquake or at least, be able to give people enough time to get out. These pancake collapses are terrifying.

[@gasdive]

In 2016 Aotearoa had a similar size earthquake and 2 people died. Sure the population is lower, but not that much lower. Building regulations and enforcement actually works.

[@direnius]

Schools and hospitals in Turkey have also generally been rebuilt to withstand strong earthquakes, and I believe none of the schools in the region collapsed.

[@gasdive]

PS, hope you're OK after the storm.

[@poojan423]

0

[@ardidsonriente2223]

My condolences and good wishes for all people suffering because of this disaster. I really hope things can get better from this low point. Here in Chile my grandparents suffered a giant earthquake (9.4 magnitude) the year 1960. Many buildings were destroyed, many lives lost, and the whole city of Valdivia was engulfed by the waters. However, when people reconstructed, there was a change in the way chileans saw earthquakes. Instead of accepting earthquakes as inevitably deadly, people uderstood they could and should do something. So they began to talk, to unite, to plan. They began to prepare themselves to better resist them, and to ask their leaders and elites to respond. The construction standards were changed by the government, with the participation of the big real state and construction actors and the overseeing of the people. Emergency drills became part of the basic education system, ingrained into each building administration and part of the legal responsabilities of corporations and bussinesses wih their workers. Then came the 1985 one (8.0 magnitude). Again the loss of goods and lives was significant, but very reduced from before. Construction codes were adjusted, drills were updated, and the study of seismic data became a daily routine for our geologists. The 2010 earthquake was a really big one, with a magnitude of 8.8. Yet we only lose 550 people, most of them because the subsequent tsunami and a fatal delay in the official evacuation order. While many buildings were destroyed, few of them colapsed or killed people. Only one big city building fell, and it was so rare it became news, even a meme of sorts. I hope Turkish people can take this pain and horror and convert them in strenght to unite and confront the problem like my grandparents did. Greedy bussinessmen, corrupt governments and even cultural conflict can be overcomed when there is a danger that is real and affects everyone, and enough people join their wills to change things.

[@AkliMeseleler]

your comment is like a recipe for salvation for us. thanks

[@nicolaspertuizet6760]

Came here to say this and couldn't tell it better!

[@alinahaider1322]

Great example of what’s possible to do

[@birdlynn417]

Thank you.

[@prapanthebachelorette6803]

Well said

[@candyman111881]

REALLY GOOD VIDEO. All the buildings there was VERY cheaply made! 👍♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️

[@sadsen]

Greetings to everyone from Turkey we can say that most of the destroyed buildings are old structures, because there has not been an earthquake in this region for 500 years, Civil Engineers did not care and ran away cheaply municipalities did not do the necessary inspection

[@s0ft466]

You don't need wooden columns for the ground storey to be 'soft'. Even a heavily reinforced set of concrete columns will do. Soft storey just means the materials that provide stiffness against lateral loading, such as in an earthquake, are lacking compared to the rest of the floors. This generally occurs when you remove the infill walls for parking or replace them with shutters for commercial spaces, as you correctly pointed out in the video. Another similar effect - the 'weak storey effect' occurs when you have reduced lateral stiffness in a floor due to discontinued pillars that should have continued to the foundation or due to greater ground storey height than the rest. With that said, you don't want too short columns either since that means the same lateral force acts over a shorter span of the column material, leading to higher lateral shearing stresses. This is the 'short column effect'.

[@Citadel_local]

0:15 I am Syrian, and I live in Aleppo. The building on the far left was in Maysaloon (a neighbourhood in Aleppo), and it was inspected after the fact, the engineers came to the conclusion that it wasn't salvageable because of the damage that occurred due to the earthquake. It was demolished on purpose. There are a lot of buildings that went down due to the earthquake, but that wasn't one of them.

[@WalnutWarrior7]

That’s good. But is there no siren, fences and other safety precautions? This looks incredibly dangerous to the civilians just minding their business in the video :P

[@Citadel_local]

@Benjamin Falck If I am not mistaken, he is part of the crew. I think they just closed off the road, and that was it.

[@pepijykyum]

I hope you & your family are safe. Syrians have been/going through a lot especially people of Aleppo. You guys are one of the most resilient people I know. Much love❤️

[@Lauren-vd4qe]

i noticed it did come down in a rather straight vertical fashion like a controlled explosion demolition.

[@Citadel_local]

@@pepijykyum Thanks for the kind words.

[@HumanSagaVault]

construction codes should be enforced to the utmost priority with every country...its just a must, no one knows when an earth quake would visit, its still better to be prepared than be sorry. im so heartbroken with what happened to turkey and syria, its so unfair💔😢

[@jia2001]

Corruption and poor construction plays a huge role here

[@yardbird8135]

I am originally from a town in Italy that is particularly prone to seismic events. I reckon that the vast majority of the residential buildings here have not been brought up complying with any seismic-aware building code. The economic choices of the building boom of the 60s and 70s will be paid by my generation with the upcoming earthquakes. As stated in the video, seismic retrofitting is extremely expensive and such an enormous endeavor that it is politically impossible to obtain within reasonable timelines. We are playing a Russian roulette on a global scale and just hope to not experience any big quake in the foreseeable future

[@italodalmasneto1701]

Roman and medieval structures all over the Mediterranean endure centuries of earthquakes. These buildings with less than 70 years didn't. Well done modernist architects and engineers.

[@butbunwin3107]

It is trump's fault base on vox ;D

[@rohultima]

@@italodalmasneto1701 ya because Romans made multi story buildings...oh wait....

[@ledtargaouschi5831]

@@rohultima Carthaginians built multi-story buildings

[@nostaljiturkce]

@@rohultima What is your story about multi story buildings? You can say multi I say tall. There are lots of tall structures from the past still standing today. Are you trying to say low quality buildings with the consent of the states haven’t been built just for the sake of making more profit?

[@seeddub3536]

That was a factor in the 1999 earthquake in Taiwan. Much less catastrophic, but similar soft story problems. A lot of street level dwellings are converted to stores, swapping strong walls out for large windows.

[@wackynz3260]

We had a huge cyclone here in NZ and also had a 6.1 earthquake same day, but thankfully no building collapsed.

[@kerimpekdemir1809]

I am writing this as a Turkish architect. We have experienced earthquakes of similar magnitude many times. But our biggest problem is education. Unfortunately, most of our society does not value science. control systems are not working well. Even if the structure is built in accordance with the regulations, it is not controlled afterwards. Unfortunately, we still have not been able to prepare for the earthquake of 7.2-7.6 magnitude, which is expected to be in Istanbul by 2030 with an 80% probability. I am so sorry for my people.

[@direnius]

That's not true. Turkey has never experienced twin earthquakes measuring almost 8 on the Richter scale. No one other country has, in fact. Could lives be saved? Absolutely. Is the government to blame? Definitely. But you would get similar results in most other European cities as well.

[@wyw201]

@@direnius Are most other European cities built along fault lines?

[@direnius]

@@wyw201 Some are. Italy is earthquake-prone. So it Portugal. And Greece.

[@wyw201]

@@direnius How are building standards in those countries? Are they comparable to that of other earthquake prone countries such as Japan.

[@leonore3349]

@@wyw201 Not along a fault line, but Lisbon and areas of the Algarve, in Portugal, are at risk of a big earthquake too. The construction here is terrible as well.

[@Justawastedsoul]

Considering that the earthquake lasted a whole 40 seconds.. Its was the most terrifying thing in my life I live in syria but where I'm at it didn't cause all that damage.. But because it lasted so long it made even the newer buildings have had cracks near the columns and the bricks.

[@bulentkulkuloglu]

In the epicenter the earthquake lasted 2 minutes It's interesting that it was just 40 seconds in Syria

[@DBASSDAN]

Man made too....HAARP

[@mymonfort]

Great presentation.

[@ynsmrnn]

even the great Chilean earthquake was 33km below the ground. In Kahramanmaraş, on the other hand, the first earthquake with a depth of 7.7 km was effective for 65 seconds, while the depth of the second earthquake was 7 km, and the duration was 45 seconds. With two earthquakes, the region was seriously shaken for about 2 minutes. I hope you understand the difference.

[@tarik-]

As an architect in Turkey "wooden columns" thing and open plan soft story buildings is not really exist in Turkey. While designing housing we design shops at 0.floor story and living spaces at other stories we do it together not after the design. The problem is most of the shop owners cut off CONCRETE columns to make more space, it creates a soft story and wood is never part of the structure

[@MultiToopy]

Do you mean that during the design phase they ask the builders to leave off certain pillars? I can't imagine you mean literally removing columns after the build, do you?

[@tarik-]

@@MultiToopy nope they literally remove columns after the build, not all of them but there are several examples

[@MultiToopy]

@@tarik- wow, that's incredible. Thanks

[@PlanetYokoshima]

I used to live in an Arab country and now in comparison to Australia, I see that people don't really know how madly heavy and hard these bricks are... even though this building I live in now in Australia is old, its walls are still so much more lighter.

[@Faruk651]

Afaik Australia uses timber construction just like North America. And New Zealand as well.

[@jeffreysherman8224]

I wasn't emotionally ready to witness this level of distruction. 😕😥🥺 This is true tragedy.

[@bzqp2]

I always assumed that the soft-story structure was used in these countries on purpose not to overconstrain the buildings and let them move during an earthquake without introducing internal stresses. They should behave like that in theory, assuming the supports are movable.

[@_qwe_fk_1700]

„Let them move“ is nonsense, at least in the way most people use it. you still somehow get the horizontal loads into the ground. And columns aren‘t great doing that.

[@maxsim_racing]

I was waiting for your investigation! great. thank you

[@Itsmarkyoung]

Thank you for addressing this, I think many were shocked to see so many buildings completely crumble in a region where retrofitting and new building codes should have prevented this. Hopefully the government/developers will address this for the future, so sad.

[@drdrew3]

The cost of retrofitting those buildings was quoted at $465 BILLION. Turkey didn’t have the money for that before this earthquake and they certainly don’t have it now.

[@juliusnepos6013]

Yeah

[@h.w.7486]

1999 - 2023 nothing has changed, nothing will. All the People stay behind the current government, don`t see, don´t hear anything, or getting in Prison or else.

[@h.w.7486]

and, how do they say in America "Pay to play". Earthquake tax, since how many years? Son hide our (Billions) Money, Search is in progress, I will fire anyone involved.

[@AC-iz7eh]

Yes they have no money for that. And the blame goes to the construction companies. Some of them have been arrested. Just watch as some politician is going to spin that this disaster is a test from God and the Turkish people will forget about it after a few years and those arrested will be quietly released