Fears of another major earthquake have been rekindled in Istanbul since the February 6 disaster that hit Turkey and Syria, but a prominent Turkish seismologist has reassured the risk "hasn't increased"."The risk hasn't increased because we are talking about completely different systems," Dogan Kalafat, the director of the Kandilli Observatory's Earthquake-Tsunami Monitoring Center in Istanbul, told AFP.Turkey's most populated city is situated near the North Anatolian Fault while the recent 7.8-magnitude quake that killed 43,500 people occurred along another fault in the country's southeast, Kalafat explained.Still, the 16 million residents of Istanbul, a city that spreads over two continents and has seen skyscrapers mushroom in recent years, are wondering if they're ready for the "Big One"."I'd like to say it, but sadly, it's a very big city with too many poorly constructed buildings," said Kalafat, who has denounced using low-quality cement and building on "soft soils".While waiting for a large-scale quake, "we must make good use of the time. We must build earthquake-proof houses on solid soil. It's the most important precaution to take," the seismologist stressed.At the observatory, seismologists take turns every eight hours watching a series of computer screens monitoring potential tremors.In front of them, on a wall at least five metres (16 feet) tall, a giant screen provides real-time readings from 260 seismic stations across the country."Nine thousand aftershocks have taken place in Turkey since February 6," which is more than "seven or eight times normal", Kalafat said.
February 25, 2023 | 01:42 PM