Mr. Genes, the engineering professor, said the destruction brought home the importance of listening to scientists. Ten years ago, Mr. Genes was part of a group that assessed the potential damage to Antakya from an earthquake and found that many of the buildings it examined were prone to collapse.
A map showing where the shaking was most intense during the 7.8 magnitude earthquake in southern Turkey. The shaking was strongest along the fault in the region and some of the strongest shaking occurred in Antakya.
Source: USGS
The shaking intensity is shown only for the first earthquake on February 6.
By Scott Reinhard
“Politicians don’t consider what the science says,” Mr. Genes said. “They are always thinking how they can get political support. For that reason, in the very bad condition of the land, just to make people a lot of money in a short time, they allowed them to build 10-story buildings in Antakya , or more than 10. It might be possible, but you’d have to make a big investment in the foundation or land improvement.”
After the earthquake, many of the buildings the group considered vulnerable did, in fact, collapse.