Science News Desk – A 7.8-magnitude earthquake near Gaziantep and aftershocks shook southeastern Turkey and neighboring Syria on February 6, destroying thousands of buildings and killing thousands. In response to criticism of efforts to rescue people trapped under the rubble of collapsed buildings, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan reportedly said it was ‘impossible to prepare for a disaster of this scale’. But is he right? I don’t think so, and I’ll explain why.
It is true that it is difficult to predict when and where an earthquake may occur. However, in the days before an earthquake occurs, there are sometimes warning signs of a major earthquake, such as unusual flashes in the night sky or unusual animal behavior. But these signals are unreliable and poorly understood. In Japan and California, there are warning systems that can warn a few seconds earlier, turning traffic lights red and stopping trains – but this time is certainly not enough to cause any kind of rescue.
Houses should be built with earthquake resistant technology
The Turkish government is well aware that the country rests on active fault zones in the Earth’s surface, with a long record of earthquake activity. Yet it allowed builders to violate earthquake resistance norms while constructing buildings. Earthquake preparedness Even if there is a reliable system that warns a day or a month before a major earthquake, how should it be used? If it were up to you, would you try to evacuate millions of people from potentially affected areas? Will they be ready to go? Where will they live and what will they do if they come back to see their ruined homes? The best way to prepare for an earthquake disaster, and what Erdogan had the power to do, is to build homes and infrastructure using earthquake-resistant techniques.
the walls should lean towards each other
This way, people are not killed during an earthquake and they still have homes. There are many ways that buildings can be designed and constructed to withstand earthquakes without collapsing. A multi-storied building in an area prone to major earthquakes should be designed in such a way that when the ground starts to move, the outer walls on both sides bend in the same direction. On the contrary, if the walls are further away from each other, then in case of an earthquake, the middle floors become ineffective in a few moments, due to which the upper floors fall on the lower floors. That’s what happened in Turkey, with deadly effect.
the foundation must be deep
Builders can prevent this type of damage by structurally tying the floor and walls together, without making the building frame so rigid that it breaks rather than bends slightly. This could mean more steel and less concrete. Other solutions are possible at higher cost. For example, digging a foundation deeper and anchoring it to rock below the soil will reduce damage in an earthquake (as it moves less than the soil), or make them flexible enough to insulate the building from ground movement. Is. Can be mounted on pad. It is a tragedy that the Turkish government knew all this.