Turkish President Erdogan on Wednesday encouraged Turkish residents and promised to rebuild all affected buildings and repair the damage within a year. But according to disaster resistant building expert Eefje Hendriks, this goal is not possible at all.
The rebuilding will take years, says Hendriks, affiliated with the University of Twente. He defines President Erdogan’s goal as positive, but defines the unfeasible plans to be implemented within a year. “We’ve also seen this in similar crises in other countries.”
It takes time to think carefully about how and where to rebuild. In addition, much infrastructure has been damaged and much rubble still needs to be cleared. “But it’s also an opportunity to build back better,” says Hendriks.
Some buildings were supposed to resist earthquakes, but collapsed anyway. “This is why mistakes have probably been made in construction joints, such as in the connections between walls and floors. Mistakes that are made there can only be detected when they are checked during construction.’
Number of dead
The death toll in Turkey and Syria from massive earthquakes on Monday has risen to more than 17,000. In Turkey, more than 14,000 people have certainly not survived the disaster and in Syria at least more than 3,100 people have already died, according to the counts of the authorities and aid workers.
Source: BNR
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