Earthquake fears loom large in Istanbul’s mayoral race
The money involved is staggering
MELIH OZUNAL and his neighbours had reason to worry about the state of their apartment block in Goztepe, on Istanbul’s Asian shore. They had long known that the cement used in their building, which dates back to the late 1980s, had been made from corrosive sand dredged from the bottom of the Marmara Sea. But last year, after he discovered that the contractor had used 16-millimetre iron rebars instead of the 18mm ones mentioned in the original plans, Mr Ozunal, an architect, asked the local authorities to check the building’s earthquake resilience. “Everyone here is anxious,” he says, as inspectors use a hammer to test the concrete in one of the columns. “We may need to have the building torn down and replaced.”
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This article appeared in the Europe section of the print edition under the headline “On shaky ground”
Europe March 23rd 2024
- Drug decriminalisation in Europe may be slowing down
- Vladimir Putin celebrates his fake election win
- Earthquake fears loom large in Istanbul’s mayoral race
- Europe is giving more parental leave to its workers
- The cyberwar in Ukraine is as crucial as the battle in the trenches
- Ukraine’s European allies are either broke, small or irresolute
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