Turkey earthquake: Question about building standards grows
One building in Malatya (seen below) was finished last year, and screenshots circulated on social media of an advert saying it was "completed in compliance with the latest earthquake regulations."
The text stated that all materials and quality used were "first-class quality".
There's no trace of this advert now, but several people had taken pictures and videos and posted them online. The advertisement matches the style of similar ones on the company website.
Another recently built apartment block in the port city of Iskenderun has been pictured largely destroyed.
The construction company for this building posted an image showing it was completed in 2019.the image of the destroyed building (right) matches the location of the company's publicity shot of the block (left).
Although the quakes were powerful, experts say properly constructed buildings should have been able to stay standing.
"The maximum intensity for this earthquake was violent but not necessarily enough to bring well constructed buildings down," says David Alexander, Professor of Emergency Planning and Management at University College London.
"In most places the level of shaking was less than the maximum, so we can conclude out of the thousands of buildings that collapsed, almost all of them don't stand up to any reasonably expected earthquake construction code."
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