After the earthquake that took place in Kahramanmaraş on February 6, 2023, our faculty members and students attended the seminar titled "Damage and Causes of Collapse in Reinforced Concrete Structures Due to Earthquake" given by one of our faculty members, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Anıl NİŞ.
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Anıl NİŞ remarked that the fact that the ground floor and sometimes some of the upper floors of the buildings are car parks or shops with glass showcases caused their destruction. Reasons such as weak column-strong beam, short column, cutting of columns, beam not connected to columns, lack of earthquake shear walls in the structure, low concrete quality, flat and low strength of construction reinforcement, absence of stirrups, rusting due to the use of sea sand cause heavy damage or destruction in the earthquake.
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Anıl NİŞ, who also warned against a possible Marmara Earthquake, added that houses must be inspected at certain periods, similar to the inspection of vehicles. Especially in multi-story buildings, the renovations made by the site management must be examined very seriously. Some homeowners and shop owners may intentionally or unintentionally damage the structural system of the building during the renovation. The structural system such as columns, shear walls, and beams should never be removed.
