Another DOOFUS explaining why Turkey was not prepared for the disaster. However, the real reason for such destruction was the skirting of the Building Code. Over a 12,000 buildings were destroyed in the latest earthquake. Even though Turkey has, on paper, construction codes that meet current earthquake-engineering standards, they are too rarely enforced, explaining why thousands of buildings crumbled.
Turkey has for years has played with fire by not enforcing modern construction codes while allowing, – in some cases, encouraging — a real estate boom in earthquake-prone areas according to experts.
AP NEWS
Amnesty was given to violators leading up to the 2018 election. As part of that amnesty program, the government agency responsible for enforcing building codes acknowledged that more than half of all buildings in Turkey — accounting for some 13 million apartments— were not in compliance with current standards.
Several experts said any serious investigation into the root of weak enforcement of building codes must include a hard look at the policies of Erdogan, as well as regional and local officials, who oversaw — and promoted — a construction boom that helped drive economic growth.
Erdogan, says, “we must all come together” in support of those who suffered most and Turkey as a whole. Of course, this is another “blame it on them, not on me” political platitude leading up to the presidential election in May.