The Istanbul authorities have adopted a decree according to which there will be no mezzanine floors in the new buildings under construction, and a basement floor should be provided for houses with more than two floors.
Ihsan Karagez, a civil engineer, said: "When we studied the causes of the collapse of buildings during the earthquakes in Kahramanmarash, we saw that the "soft" floors, which we call mezzanine floors, are one of them. At the same time, structures with low load-bearing columns and buildings without basements suffered from the earthquake. For example, in Adana we saw that 17- or 20-storey houses with a one-storey basement were damaged. A basement of one floor is not enough.
"If we are talking about Istanbul, then in almost 39 districts, such as Shishli, Bagcylar and Saryer, all buildings are multi-storey. They should have a basement," Karagez added. Moreover, the higher the number of floors of the house, the deeper it is necessary to go down, thus making the structure more stable, the expert noted.
Source: Sondakika