There is plenty of evidence that developers and contractors cut corners with the approval of Erdoğan to “speed” housing for votes. That is, “regulations, schmegulations, just build”. And maybe shovel a little cash to selected folks at the top. Government just gets in the way, anyway.
Textbook example of anti-regulatory fervor for profit.
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I don’t know what the building codes are in Turkey, so I don’t know if they were adequate and ignored or just never sufficient.
But building unreinforced masonry buildings over 2 stories in an Earthquake zone is idiocy, codes or not.
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There are plenty of reports regarding the
actual disregard by developers and contractors. And Erdogan is suspected to have greased those wheels of corruption.
Many have been arrested. I don’t know if they can start implicating up the political ladder in Turkey or if “persuasive” interrogation is used.
There are ways to build taller buildings to withstand earthquakes without collapsing.
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20190114-how-japans-skyscrapers-are-built-to-survive-earthquakes
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Of course there are ways to build survivable buildings in Earthquake zones,
Unreinforced masonry is not one of them.
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Hence, the corruption. Criminal malfeasance and massive corruption could really be the only reason for buildings erected in the last decades.
I think Erdogan is in trouble.
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I suspect many of those buildings predate Erdogan.
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It is a lot worse than I even thought.
https://www.businessinsider.com/erdogan-bragged-about-easing-building-codes-ahead-of-turkey-earthquake-2023-2?op=1
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Well, in a country with a free press that should do it, but I still don’t know the age of the buildings. Turkey has been corrupt a long time.
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Free press? After the attempted coup, possibly staged by Erdogan because it was a Keystone Cops show, most critical press was closed and journalists arrested by the hundreds.
BTW
The article mentioned thousands of buildings after Erdogan’s relaxation of building codes.
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RE: “That is, ‘regulations, schmegulations, just build’.”
Is the argument that government regulations are a good and natural thing, or that the Turkish government is corrupt?
I would try not to confuse regulations with standards, but if the government is corrupt maybe it doesn’t matter.
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Standards mean little if not enforced by regulatory muscle.
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That’s a pretty weak argument for regulatory government.
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Re: Turkey earthquake death toll.
There is really no reasonable way to expect a prospective buyer or renter in a high rise to hire engineers to see if the construction of the 20 story high rise was built to strict earthquake standard.
Do you have another idea?
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RE: “Do you have another idea?”
Sure. When enough people have died, the remainder will start hiring engineers to rate the buildings they wish to live in.
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That is just silly. You don’t value lives much do you.
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“You don’t value lives much do you”
Survival of the richest and most corrupt?
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No, just silly.
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