Who Is Responsible For The Buildings Destroyed In The Earthquake?

Unfortunately that country is Turkey. And this is not a disaster scenario; It’s a sad reality that we’re still living in. We experienced that great earthquake in these lands on February 6th. Two devastating earthquakes with a magnitude of 7.7 and 7.6 affected 10 provinces of our country; tens of thousands of our people lost their lives.

Hundreds of thousands of buildings were either destroyed or severely damaged and will be demolished. Millions of our people were left homeless. Together, we ask a question with the pain of the souls we have lost and the fear of other great earthquakes to come; While an earthquake is a fact that we know will come, Who are the ones responsible for leading tens of thousands of our people to death on purpose?

Let’s start from the beginning; earthquake is not destiny, earthquake cannot be prevented, but deaths, destructions and losses can be prevented;

I wish I didn’t have to say that anymore. But unfortunately in our country still earthquake can be called ‘destiny’; It is shown as if there is no escape from this painful event, with an approach that does not seem to be a cure for the dead.

Our people also do not have enough knowledge about this issue; The number of those who believe in this ‘destiny’ perception is substantial.. As a matter of fact, one needs to remind and emphasize this information.

Let’s not prolong it; No earthquake in Turkey is a ‘surprise’, is not unknown. We know in which provinces of this country and in which magnitude ranges earthquakes are expected. We can more or less guess what years it might be between. So you see, the earthquake is not a destiny; scientific fact.

Earthquakes don’t kill either. Because point of science, engineering and technologyhow buildings should be built that can withstand even major earthquakes; It clearly says where buildings should not be built and which floors are risky.

Then let’s conclude with a simple logic; If it is not the earthquake or fate that killed tens of thousands of our people, we have only one thing left; buildings!

Against standing buildings shattered, collapsed, raked, falling on top of each other, to risky areas above fault lines.buildings built on unsuitable grounds, not built in accordance with regulations.

So who is building these buildings? Who allows it to be done? It’s being audited, but these buildings are actually on paper.who checks and says all is well?

Let’s take a look at the steps taken when a building is to be built;

Before a building is to be built zoning status certificate, preparation of documents such as application sketch; Then a license application has to be made.

In this process, an independent supervisor is determined and starts working. With the documents collected license application is made. During the license application, the architectural project is prepared and submitted for approval, ground survey report According to this report, a static project is prepared, permits and documents are obtained for infrastructure and excavation works.

appointed by the ministry during the project building inspectors He is on duty at every stage. At the end of the construction, municipal inspections are carried out and a building occupancy permit is issued. Through the process In addition to the permits and inspections of the relevant municipalities or special provincial administrations, and the supervision of the technical responsible persons of the projects is carried out.

technical officersappear as the authorities responsible for inspecting the structure they undertake on behalf of the public. They are responsible for inspecting whether the structure they undertake is in compliance with the law, plan, regulations, other relevant legislation provisions, science, art, health rules, license annex projects, Turkish Standards Institute standards and technical specifications. Generally, these people are from professional groups such as civil engineers and architects.

Who is ultimately responsible?

Earthquakes are actually ‘force majeure’ is accepted as For an event to be considered as ‘force majeure’, it happens outside of the control of the parties, the unpredictability of such an event.Even if it is foreseen, it should not be known that the consequences will be so severe and cannot be eliminated.

But as a country in an earthquake zone; Considering the great earthquake disasters in the past, the earthquake should not be seen as a force majeure in our country. Earthquake is not seen as a force majeure There are also precedent decisions.

Those who can be found responsible and be tried for murder/injury by simple negligence and murder/injury by deliberate negligence are as follows;

• Project and construction managers
• building inspectors
• Building owner (owner of the building/structure)
• Engineers, architects involved in the construction
• contractors
• Civil servants responsible for the inspection of the building
• hotel etc. operators in businesses

And of course, those who have not taken any precautions against a disaster that has been known to come for decades, those who open disaster areas for development, There are those who ‘allow’ hundreds of thousands of structures that are not built according to any rules. How many of these responsible persons will be prosecuted and how many will be punished; how many of the cases will be time-barred, as in the past, after the 1999 earthquake; we’ll wait and see.

In this process, our duty is to continue to support our citizens in the disaster area and Educating ourselves against the reality of earthquakes, which is a big part of our lives… Once again, our condolences to all of you.

If you want to help our earthquake victims;

Just one of the ways to build buildings that do not collapse in an earthquake;

We are all going through tough times after the earthquake. How will we cope with this difficult process?