After the earthquake in Turkey and Syria on February 6, 2023, Erzin made headlines in the world media: allegedly, buildings in the city were almost undamaged because its mayor did not allow the construction of houses that violated technology. We have checked whether this version is correct.

Earthquakes in southeast Turkey on the morning of February 6 brought to the destruction of more than 50,000 buildings in Turkey and Syria. Turkish authorities issued arrest warrants for more than 130 construction company employees who may have been responsible for illegal and shoddy construction. At the same time, according to headings Media, in the city of Erzin in southeastern Turkey, not a single building was damaged. Many called this phenomenon is a “miracle in Erzin”. As the publications write, “Kommersant" And "News“, the city owes this “miracle” to its mayor, who “was called a hero because of the buildings that survived the earthquake.” “The Miracle in Erzin” is also actively discussed bloggers And users social networks.

The February 6, 2023 earthquake caused extensive damage in Hatay province, located approximately 100 km from the epicenter. As of February 17, in Hatay there were destroyed about 15,000 buildings. Among the news about the destruction, headlines about the city stood out Erzine, where supposedly not a single building was damaged. You can check the extent of damage to buildings online.platform Turkish Ministry of Environment, Urban Planning and Climate Change. On February 17 in Erzin it was examined 847 buildings, of which seven were completely destroyed, 53 were heavily damaged, and 109 were partially damaged. That is, there are still destroyed and completely collapsed houses in Erzin, although their percentage (7.1%) is small compared to the rest cities.

If you compare the situation in Erzin with similar settlements in Hatay province, you can see that the levels of destruction are approximately similar. For example, in Payase, which is also in Hatay and roughly matches Erzin in size and population, 5.6% of buildings surveyed turned out to be severely damaged or destroyed. Of course, these figures give only an approximate picture, since such statistics do not take into account the number of storeys of buildings, building density and other factors that potentially influence the scale of damage.

Source: Ministry of Environment, Urban Development and Climate Change

Some seismologists They say, that the relatively small scale of destruction in Erzin is explained by several factors. Firstly, the location of the city relative to the tectonic fault. If you look at map seismic activity from February 6 to 17, 2023, it is clear that most of the tremors occurred along the plate fault and were not felt as strongly in the Erzin area. Former professor at Istanbul Technical University Okan Tuysüz noted: “There is no tectonic movement near Erzin. The fault runs 30-40 km from the city, and between them is the large Amanos mountain range.”

Secondly, many seismologists thinkthat the geological structure of the soil “protected” Erzin from major destruction. Research shows that rocky soils provide better stability, but sandy soils increase destructive vibrations. Sükru Ersoy, Professor at Yildiz Technical University, noted: “Hassa, Islahiye, Kirikhan, Antakya and Samandag were heavily damaged due to poor ground conditions. Perhaps it was because of the soil that Erzin suffered less.” By words Turkish geophysical engineer Ali Yildizel, “Erzin sitting on a layer of rock, and, most likely, this arrangement helped protect it from disaster."

Sandy soil typical of many settlements in Hatay Province (left) and rocky soil in Erzin (right). Source: BBC

Thirdly, the city is mainly built up with low-rise buildings and private houses. The higher the number of floors, the more amplitude of vibrations and probability of collapse. Apartment buildings in Erzin do not exceed four floors. In addition, many owners of private houses built them themselves, giving special attention to the foundation and strengthening the sandy soil with stones. This made their buildings more durable.

And finally, fourthly, the relatively small scale of destruction in Erzin is still due to the city authorities. Current mayor of Okkesh Elmasoglu takes This post is from March 2019. And although Erzin does not have many buildings built during his administration, Elmasoğlu asserts, which has repeatedly refused the illegal addition of floors and the construction of illegal and multi-story buildings. Elmasoglu himself told in an interview: “Shortly after the elections, one of my distant relatives came to me and said: “We were fined for illegal construction.” I told him that I couldn’t do anything, and he replied: “Are you the only honest one in Turkey?” “It is difficult to check whether his words are true and how many buildings Elmasoglu “saved” from collapse in this way. But the city's residents really give away tribute to the current mayor of the city and previous administrations, which, according to citizens, have always opposed high-rise construction.

Thus, Erzin survived not by a “miracle,” but due to a combination of factors: the small size of the city, its favorable tectonic position and the geological structure of the soil. At the same time, Mayor Elmasoglu’s refusal to issue licenses for construction in violation of regulations, according to his own statements and reviews of city residents, also played a role.

Cover photo: social networks