In Istanbul, the demolition of the first buildings classified as the zone with the highest risk of collapse has begun. This was stated by the mayor of the city Ekrem Imamoglu.
The first demolished buildings are located in the Avcilar district in the west of the city. Residents of houses are resettled.
According to the mayor, there are at least 318 buildings in the zone of immediate collapse during an earthquake in Istanbul, and another 1,525 buildings are classified as high risk. At least 90,000 homes in the city could be affected.
Since 2019, the city authorities, together with the Istanbul Technical University, have launched a program of voluntary and free assessment of houses in the city, which allows for the identification of the risk of collapse. In three years, almost 30,000 citizens’ requests were processed, and after the February 6 earthquake, another 40,000 requests for urgent building inspections were received.
Earlier, Haluk Eyidogan, a professor of seismology and a member of the Council of Scientists of the Istanbul City Hall on Earthquakes, said that seismologists predict a devastating earthquake in Istanbul by 2030. One of the branches of the North Anatolian fault runs in the Sea of Marmara off the coast of the city. The power of tremors can reach 7.5 – 7.7 points.
In southeastern Turkey, a massive earthquake on February 6 raised the death toll to 43,556, according to the latest data.