Turkey on Wednesday ended search and rescue efforts in the rubble of buildings that collapsed as a result of Friday’s strong earthquake in the Aegean Sea, after the death toll crept up to 116 in the western city of Izmir amid rising coronavirus tally and a sharp decline in the value of the Turkish lira which sank to a new record low against the US dollar and Euro.
The quake, the deadliest to hit Turkey in nearly a decade, injured 1,035 people in Izmir and 137 were still being treated, Turkey’s Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) said.
A study undertaken by Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality estimates that in the event of an Istanbul earthquake that measures a magnitude of 7.5, some 48,000 buildings in the city will be completely destroyed or experience a severe damage, while medium damage will be recorded in another 194,000 buildings.
The Istanbul Planning Agency (İBA), run under the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (İBB), has released a report saying that 48,000 buildings in Istanbul will collapse or be severely damaged if an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.5 hits the megacity.
Some 194,000 buildings will experience medium damage in such an earthquake and 30 percent of the roads will be blocked, said the report released on Nov. 4. The total damage caused by such a massive earthquake will reach 120 billion Turkish Liras ($14.27 billion), according to the report.
Istanbul has more than enough empty apartment flats which can be allocated for the use of residents who currently reside in the city’s 48,000 most risky buildings, said the report. “Instead of constructing new buildings, these empty dwellings can be used to prepare against the earthquake. However, political and economical preferences as well as the legislation pose an obstacle to this,” the report read.
Turkey is crossed by fault lines and is prone to earthquakes. Covid-19 outbreak, lira woes and declining relations with France and US add to concerns over Erdogan's handling of the economy.
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