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The public prosecutor’s office in western Turkey’s Izmir province has announced that an indictment has been prepared for 29 people over their alleged role in negligence that exacerbated the damage caused by last year’s earthquake in the province. Ten of them had already been arrested.
The 6.6-magnitude earthquake on October 30, 2020 killed 115 people living in eight buildings in the county. Prosecution proceedings are underway on alleged negligence in the construction of buildings, most of which were built before the strict earthquake-resistance regulations of buildings came into force. The Public Prosecution statement stated that 17 suspects were released under judicial supervision while one of the suspects in the indictment was at large. A court rejected a request to detain another suspect. Judicial oversight is a type of surveillance that can include house arrest (house confinement), restrictions on leaving a certain area, and bans on entering certain areas, places or areas.
The statement said that the office also sought to investigate 17 government officials deemed negligent and awaiting approval of the investigation.
In April, 13 people were arrested as part of the investigation, months after the first arrests. They were accused of contributing to the death toll and exacerbating the damage caused by the earthquake as a result of poor construction of buildings.
The arrests followed an initial expert report that blamed those involved in building construction and those who did not take action against the disaster for the deaths and injuries. One of the suspects was the owner of an apartment in one of the collapsed buildings and refused to agree to rebuild the building to protect it from a possible earthquake. The report, compiled by experts from Dokuz Eylül University in Izmir, Istanbul Technical University and TBITAK-Marmara Research Center of the Science Council of the same name, says that samples taken from collapsed buildings showed that the reason for their failure was the use of substandard materials and designs. Errors. The plaintiffs also formed a four-member expert panel from Istanbul Technical University. Their final report will be released soon.
All deaths in the earthquake occurred in Berkeley-area buildings that completely or partially collapsed. The rubble that fell between buildings that had little damage other than the cracked walls had already revealed the insecurity of the buildings. Police detained building contractors, building owners and engineers, including two men injured in the aftermath of the quake. A report by a group of researchers from Gazi University in Ankara, who visited the disaster area two days after the earthquake, noted the “deficiencies” of the collapsed structures and precarious ground conditions. Some buildings were erected in areas that were once orchards and swamps.
Turkey, a country on several active fault lines, has tightened building inspections and implemented regulations to enhance the safety of new buildings after the infamous 1999 earthquake that killed thousands in Istanbul and neighboring provinces.
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