TURKEY’S BUILDINGS FALL LIKE PANCAKES

pair of huge earthquakes have struck in Turkey, leaving more than 3,000 people dead and unknown numbers injured or displaced. The first quake, near Gaziantep close to the Syrian border, measured 7.8 in magnitude and was felt as far away as the UK. The second occurred nine hours later, on what appears to be an intersecting fault, registering a magnitude of 7.5.

Adding to the devastation, some 3,450 buildings have collapsed, according to the Turkish government. Many of the modern buildings have failed in a “pancake mode” of structural collapse. Why did this happen? Was it simply the enor- mous magnitude and violence of the quake, or is the problem with the buildings?

THOUSANDS OF YRS OF EARTHQUAKES

Earthquakes are common in Turkey, which sits in a very seismically active region where three tectonic plates constantly grind against one another be-

Adding to the massive devastation, some 3,450 buildings have collapsed, according to the Turkish government. Many of the modern buildings have failed in a “pancake mode” of structural collapse neath Earth’s surface.

CONSTRUCTION IS A

KNOWN PROBLEM

Many of the collapsed buildings appear to have been built from concrete without adequate seismic reinforcement. Seismic building codes in this region suggest these buildings should be able to sus- tain strong earthquakes (where the ground accelerates by 30 percent to 40 percent of the normal gravity) without incurring this type of complete failure.

RECONSTRUCTION

Even though Turkish authorities know many buildings are unsafe in earthquakes, it is still a difficult problem to solve. Many of the buildings are already built, and seismic retrofitting may be expensive or not considered a priority compared to other socio-economic challenges.

In addition to substantive loss of life and infrastructure damage, both earthquakes are likely to have caused a myriad of environmental effects, such as ruptured ground surfaces, liquified soil, and landslides. These effects may render many areas unsafe to rebuild on – so reconstruction efforts should also include planning decisions about what can be built where, to lower future risks.

SOURCE: THE CONVERSATION we came to know that the Indian National Army (INA) played a very key role in it,” she said.

According to the CPI-M central committee member Sujan Chakraborty, “this is part of a bigger ploy of projecting Netaji as a Hindu rather than a believer in inclusive politics’’. “They are organising the programme just keeping in mind the panchayat elections in the state this year and the Lok Sabha elections in 2024. Even Netaji’s daughter has endorsed there is no common element of connection between RSS’ divisive politics and Netaji’s inclusive ideology irrespective of caste, language and religion,” he said.

“The BJP has made a lot of effort to honour Netaji. With any politician, you have first to allow them to look at his/her interest. If Netaji was alive today and held a different view from that of the government, then the BJP would not have honoured him. So (in this case) it is

POLITICAL ‘POW-WOW’

It may be recalled that the Trinamool Congress and BJP had locked horns to appropriate Netaji’s legacy on his 125th birth anniversary ahead of the assembly polls in 2021. In 2015, the West Bengal government released 64 files on the leader held by the home department. The next year, the Narendra Modi government at the Centre released 100 files on him.

Commission After Commission

After Independence, the Centre had formed three inquiry commissions to unravel the mystery of Netaji’s disappearance. Two of them -- the Shah Nawaz Commission and Khosla Commission were formed by the Congress governments and concluded that Bose died in an air crash on August 18, 1945, soon after taking off from Taihoku airport in Taiwan. The third one -the Mukherjee Commission formed by the BJPled NDA government said he did not.

THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY THE AUTHOR ARE PERSONAL

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Piyush Goyal @PiyushGoyal Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam!

Humanitarian assistance along with search & rescue equipment rushed to earthquake hit Türkiye. India stands in solidarity with the people of Türkiye in their hour of need.

Jyotiraditya M. Scindia @JM_Scindia

In order to connect difficult areas by air #UDAN , helicopter services are being started in Assam. This is an important step towards the Prime Minister’s @narendramodi ji’s LookEastPolicy and resolve to make the North Eastern states the engine of the country’s development.

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