Experts from Istanbul Technical University (ITU) and Budapest University of Technology and Economics (BME) flew to Hatay to examine the buildings destroyed and damaged in what President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has called the "the disaster of the century."
ITU Civil Engineering faculty member İsmail Dabanlı told Anadolu Agency (AA) that they traveled to the earthquake-affected area with experts from the Budapest University of Technology and Economics to conduct investigations.
Dabanlı stated that some of the buildings in Hatay have collapsed completely, while most of the buildings were still standing. He also pointed out that some of the surviving structures are visibly damaged. "After a detailed examination, it will be clear how much damage these buildings sustained," he said.
Regarding information relating to building design, Dabanlı said: "In our technical observations we have found that buildings exposed to such an earthquake should only see damage, not collapse. We see that both buildings built before 1999 and those that were newly constructed were demolished by the earthquake. Although these buildings were constructed as per the latest standards using steel, the material seemed insufficient when it came to withstanding earthquake shocks. After examining the reasons the buildings collapsed one by one, a definite opinion will be shared."
"On average, there is more than one collapsed building on every street," Dabanlı underlined. The experts found that concrete produced from "creek sand" or "sea sand" is found in buildings built before 1999 and that crushed stone was not used as aggregate in the concrete of such buildings, a usual practice.
Pointing out that it is difficult to find crushed stone concrete in buildings built before 1999, Dabanlı continued: "In the old Hatay region, most of the buildings are made of flat iron, with low adherence. In Hatay, nearly 35% of the buildings collapsed, while 30% were severely damaged. The remaining buildings are moderately or slightly damaged or undamaged."
"The devastating effect of the earthquake in regions where ground conditions are not good is not a surprise," said ITU Geophysical Engineering Department research assistant Ceyhun Erman. He noted that they have been investigating the region for two days and that it was not possible to say anything good with regard to Hatay.
"A significant number of buildings have been destroyed in Hatay, and the condition of the survivors is not very good. It is normal for the fault to affect the region," he underlined.
"We can say that the surface rupture created by this earthquake, centered in Kahramanmaraş's Nurdağı, extends almost to this region. The ground parameters are not very good in this region. It is a settlement built on a plain. Therefore, after this great earthquake with a magnitude of 7.7, the results are not surprising at all," Erman added.
