Earthquake commission to be established in Turkey

PanARMENIAN.Net - An “earthquake commission” will be established within the next 15 days to conduct an Istanbul-wide assessment to identify and fix buildings that might not withstand an earthquake, according to Istanbul Metropolitan Mayor Kadir Topbaş.

“We are aiming to deliver Istanbul from the risks of an earthquake through [the kind of] coordination that transcends politics,” Topbaş said after a meeting held in Fatih’s Saraçhane neighborhood.

The meeting in Saraçhane was attended by local politicians, including 36 district mayors, the group deputy presidents in the municipal council from both the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) as well as other officials.

Each district will form its own model to deal with the challenge of earthquake-proofing buildings, according to Topbaş, while the districts will also be prioritized, as it is impossible to transform the 1.6 million buildings in the city all at once.

Street drills and other instructive programs will be initiated to train Istanbul residents in how to behave during and after an earthquake, while citizens will also be able to apply to universities and to the municipality-owned Bosphorus Construction Consultancy Corp. (BİMTAŞ) to learn more about their houses’ relative resistance to quakes.

There are between 50,000 and 60,000 buildings in Istanbul that need to be demolished immediately, Hurriyet Daily News reported.