In Türkiye, how Istanbul is preparing for a major earthquake – Libération

Faced with the specter of an earthquake that could hit the Turkish megacity by 2030, many Istanbul residents are planning ahead by having their properties tested and reconstructed according to seismic standards. But many others are reluctant despite aid provided by the government and the municipality.

Four and a half years ago, Ferhat Binkanat, 38, purchased an apartment in Bahçelievler, a dense neighborhood on the outskirts of Istanbul. This manager of a medical tourism company has been working there ever since with his wife and their six-year-old son. But after the earthquake which devastated the south of the country on February 6, 2023, this family was seized with concern about the resistance of their building in the event of a cataclysm, this time… in Istanbul.

In the process, the father then submitted a request for an inspection of the building to the municipality, which has provided this service free of charge to residents of the metropolis since 2019. Some twenty months later, a municipal team, vests of construction site and protective helmets, proceeds to examine the building in question by inspecting its columns. “If it turns out that he poses risks, I will leave him immediately and move with my family to a safer place», assures Ferhat Binkanat, with a worried expression.

«Following the 2023 earthquake, we received more than 160,000 inspection requests which we are still trying to honor», Explains Mustafa Genç, a building engineer who supervises the municipal team deployed on this October morning. Fears of a major earthquake