ISTANBUL, February 12 (Sputnik) – Almost 8,000 buildings in 10 Turkish provinces affected by the devastating earthquakes need to be urgently demolished, the Turkish Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change Ministry said on Sunday.
About 6,000 employees of the ministry are currently assessing the condition of buildings in the earthquake-hit provinces, according to a statement seen by Sputnik.
“So far, we have checked 132,898 buildings in 10 provinces… of them, 7,584 collapsed or need to be urgently demolished and 12,617 buildings are in an uninhabitable condition due to damage,” the statement read.
More than 31,000 buildings received minor damage as a result of the quakes, while more than 60,000 were not affected at all, the ministry added. According to the ministry’s estimates, the inspection of all buildings in 10 provinces will be completed within 3-4 days.
On Monday, parts of Turkey and Syria were hit by a series of devastating earthquakes and aftershocks that killed over 24,000 people and knocked down thousands of homes. On Wednesday, Turkish Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag said that no one would get away with the negligence that resulted in the collapse of buildings during the quake.
After the catastrophic earthquakes of 1999, which killed more than 18,000 people, Turkey revised the rules governing the construction of residential buildings. In particular, in 2007, a code for the construction of houses was adopted, taking into account the requirements necessary for earthquake protection.