٠٠:٠٢:٤٥Despite being near the epicentre of last week’s catastrophic earthquakes, the city of Erzin has remained unscathed, with no reports of deaths or building collapses, as seen in footage captured on Thursday.
The city with a population of around 42,000 has become a safe haven for displaced people throughout the region, with reports that as many as 20,000 refugees have flocked there since the earthquakes.
Civil engineers in Erzin attribute the city’s resilience to a strict adherence to construction laws while also pointing out that there are no high-rise buildings in the city.
"The thing we pay the most attention to here is the height. Due to having fewer floors, we survived this earthquake without losses. We are constructing our buildings following the regulations with the selfless work of our municipality plus the contractors in Erzin,” explained Mustafa Goktekin, a civil engineer and contractor.
"Our buildings are especially dependent on static calculations, and as engineers, we work extra on places we see as weak. There are beams with a lot of openings, there are columns that we see as weak. Since human safety is important, we have to intervene in them without considering the costs," he added.
At least 43,000 people are reported to have died with more than 105,000 injured as thousands of buildings collapsed in the 7.7 and 7.6 magnitude earthquakes that rocked Kahramanmaras, Hatay, Adıyaman, Gaziantep, Malatya, Diyarbakir, Sanliurfa, Kilis, Adana and Osmaniye on February 6.
Nearly 196,000 people have been evacuated from the quake-hit regions so far, the Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD) said.
Turkey: Unscathed city of Erzin becomes safe haven after devastating earthquakes
Despite being near the epicentre of last week’s catastrophic earthquakes, the city of Erzin has remained unscathed, with no reports of deaths or building collapses, as seen in footage captured on Thursday.
The city with a population of around 42,000 has become a safe haven for displaced people throughout the region, with reports that as many as 20,000 refugees have flocked there since the earthquakes.
Civil engineers in Erzin attribute the city’s resilience to a strict adherence to construction laws while also pointing out that there are no high-rise buildings in the city.
"The thing we pay the most attention to here is the height. Due to having fewer floors, we survived this earthquake without losses. We are constructing our buildings following the regulations with the selfless work of our municipality plus the contractors in Erzin,” explained Mustafa Goktekin, a civil engineer and contractor.
"Our buildings are especially dependent on static calculations, and as engineers, we work extra on places we see as weak. There are beams with a lot of openings, there are columns that we see as weak. Since human safety is important, we have to intervene in them without considering the costs," he added.
At least 43,000 people are reported to have died with more than 105,000 injured as thousands of buildings collapsed in the 7.7 and 7.6 magnitude earthquakes that rocked Kahramanmaras, Hatay, Adıyaman, Gaziantep, Malatya, Diyarbakir, Sanliurfa, Kilis, Adana and Osmaniye on February 6.
Nearly 196,000 people have been evacuated from the quake-hit regions so far, the Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD) said.
Despite being near the epicentre of last week’s catastrophic earthquakes, the city of Erzin has remained unscathed, with no reports of deaths or building collapses, as seen in footage captured on Thursday.
The city with a population of around 42,000 has become a safe haven for displaced people throughout the region, with reports that as many as 20,000 refugees have flocked there since the earthquakes.
Civil engineers in Erzin attribute the city’s resilience to a strict adherence to construction laws while also pointing out that there are no high-rise buildings in the city.
"The thing we pay the most attention to here is the height. Due to having fewer floors, we survived this earthquake without losses. We are constructing our buildings following the regulations with the selfless work of our municipality plus the contractors in Erzin,” explained Mustafa Goktekin, a civil engineer and contractor.
"Our buildings are especially dependent on static calculations, and as engineers, we work extra on places we see as weak. There are beams with a lot of openings, there are columns that we see as weak. Since human safety is important, we have to intervene in them without considering the costs," he added.
At least 43,000 people are reported to have died with more than 105,000 injured as thousands of buildings collapsed in the 7.7 and 7.6 magnitude earthquakes that rocked Kahramanmaras, Hatay, Adıyaman, Gaziantep, Malatya, Diyarbakir, Sanliurfa, Kilis, Adana and Osmaniye on February 6.
Nearly 196,000 people have been evacuated from the quake-hit regions so far, the Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD) said.