February 6 earthquakes: 50,576 buildings need to be destroyed

Photo: AA

Click to read the article  in Turkish / Kurdish

Environment, Urbanization, and Climate Change Minister Murat Kurum stated on his social media account that in the February 6 earthquake-affected area, at the moment, 7,100 people are working on damage assessment.

After the inspection of 387,346 buildings, 50,576 buildings must be demolished as soon as possible. 279,655 buildings are slightly damaged or undamaged.

The disastrous earthquakes hit Türkiye and Syria, killing more than 35 thousand people, and damaging structures in 11 provinces of Türkiye.

Some provinces, such as Adana, saw relatively light destruction, with 46 buildings destroyed or heavily damaged.

However, in Adıyaman, 6,108 buildings collapsed or were severely damaged, in Gaziantep 11,922 structures were heavily devastated. 11,922 buildings got destroyed in Hatay, and in Kahramanmaraş, 10,777 buildings were severely damaged or collapsed.

President Erdoğan announced yesterday, in a speech, that 98 percent of the collapsed buildings were built before 1999.

In addition, he promised that this year, new qualitative and safe buildings will be built in areas, adding that they can construct 30,000 buildings in March.

These plans are, however, received with skepticism by some. According to imprisoned city planner Dr. Tayfun Kahraman, "starting construction in a month is preparing the ground for new disasters." (AS/WM)