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Turkey starts building new residences in earthquake-stricken Izmir

Turkey starts building new residences in earthquake-stricken Izmir

Survivors of the Izmir earthquake, which killed 117 people on Oct. 30, 2020, are set to start over their new life in new houses. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan laid the foundation for 1,844 houses which will be constructed by a housing authority for those who lost homes or had their buildings heavily damaged in the disaster.

An earthquake of a magnitude of 6.6 had flattened buildings and left locals homeless when it struck off the coast of Seferihisar in Turkey’s third-largest city. The devastation was the greatest in Bayraklı district, and survivors were settled in prefabricated housing units after a brief stay in tents in the aftermath of the disaster.

The government designated seven areas for the construction of new houses in Bayraklı. The Housing Development Administration of Turkey (TOKI) is in charge of the rebuilding process which will be mostly on the site of collapsed buildings. Experts had blamed unsafe buildings constructed on unstable ground for the damage the earthquake inflicted, and rebuilding work started after the improvement of the ground. Earthquake-resistant new buildings will be reinforced with bored piles which will be as high as the height of new buildings. Along with houses, 208 stores will be built in Bayraklı. All will be in the concept of “horizontal architecture,” something the government tries to spread in the country where tall buildings thriving in big cities raised concerns over earthquake risk. New buildings will have five floors plus a basement floor at most, shorter compared with other buildings in the area which usually have seven or eight floors.