Yavuz IŞIK
THBB Yönetim Kurulu Başkanı
President
The demise of over 100 and the injury of over 1,000 citizens of us in the earthquake that shook Izmir on October 30 saddened all of us deeply. First, I once again wish Allah’s mercy upon our citizens who lost their lives in the earthquake, condolences and patience to their families and acquaintances, and urgent healing to our injured people. Condolences to our nation.
When we scrutinize the Izmir Earthquake, we see that the buildings collapsed were built pursuant to the earthquake regulations before the 1999 Marmara Earthquake and that low quality concrete and non-ribbed iron reinforcement were used. Once again, I would like to highlight the importance of using high quality ready mixed concrete and ribbed iron. Also the venues affected by the earthquake have a weak ground. A ground survey must be conducted well and engineering services must be received during the design and construction stages, to construct a building on such a ground. When we consider it in view of before, during, and after an earthquake, the most important one is the precautions to be taken before an earthquake. In this case, the first thing to be done is to conduct a ground survey while constructing a building and draw up the project accordingly and to pay attention to the quality of the concrete and iron to be used. As the fourth consideration, the building must be built in line with its project. As in the previous earthquakes, we will pore over the collapsed and damaged buildings in Izmir in detail and prepare a report upon the experiments on the samples taken.