The death toll from the February 6, 2021 earthquakes in Turkey and Syria passed 50,000 on Friday, after Turkey announced a death toll of more than 44,000.
More than 160,000 buildings containing 520,000 apartments collapsed or were severely damaged in Turkey, the worst in the country’s modern history. reuters informed of.
The earthquake is expected to have a profound psychological impact, particularly with vulnerable children.
Apart from the many consequences of the devastating earthquake, there are some concerns that attract the attention of common people around the world including India.
Reports have emerged of how Turkey and Syria have seen concrete structures crumble in seconds. While the magnitude of the earthquake was responsible for the tragic damage, local media reported that the buildings had structural issues and that regulations were not followed during construction.
For a country like India, which has the ambitious task of providing shelter to each and every citizen of the country, the responsibility of creating a secure real estate infrastructure becomes all the more important.
Read also: real estate fraud, delay in flat possession; Check these 5 legal things before buying a house
Some of the hazards associated with earthquakes include:
The most significant danger of an earthquake is the loss of life and injuries that can result from the collapse of buildings and other structures. The danger to life and property is even greater in densely populated areas.
Earthquakes can cause serious damage to buildings, roads, bridges and other critical infrastructure. This loss can have long-term economic and social consequences.
Earthquakes can cause significant displacement of people, forcing them to leave their homes and communities. It can cause significant social and economic disruption and exacerbate existing poverty and inequality.
Experts outline key achievements and learnings for the industry in India.
According to five takeaways for the real estate industry Manoj Gaur, President, CREDAI NCR and CMD Gaur Group.
1) Unauthorized construction should be stopped as these developers do not follow safety norms and do not use enough steel.
2) Proper construction techniques should be implemented i.e. use of beams, good joints, thick columns of thin slabs. In India, real estate developers who are building in an authorized manner take due care however developers who are building in an unauthorized manner do not follow proper construction techniques.
3) in India After the Gujarat incident, the government made it mandatory for all high-rise buildings to be tested by IITs before execution and all drawings and constructions were done accordingly.
Developers take this certification, however in unauthorized construction proper norms are not followed. The government will keep proper check on unauthorized construction.
4) With various technological advancements including simulation, artificial intelligence and BIM models, more and more safety will be incorporated into the designs.
5) The execution of construction requires equal attention and adherence to structural plans at the development stage is to be ensured.
Anubhav Gupta, CEO- Vikhroli; Chief ESG, sustainability and CSR officer, Godrej PropertiesAlso highlighted important learnings for the industry in the Indian context.
1. Meet the aspirations of potential homeowners through information and education. Provide basic information that they must have while buying flats in multi-storey buildings.
Use information from reputable sources such as ‘Simplified Guidelines for Earthquake Safety of Buildings from the National Building Code of India 2016’ prepared as a collaboration between the National Disaster Management Authority and the Bureau of Indian Standards. It guides the current and potential home owners towards reducing the future losses after the negative fallout of this natural phenomenon.
2. Industry should integrate internal checklists that ensure quality of design and manufacturing throughout the development process. This would be:
A. Check whether reinforced concrete (RC) frame buildings have (a) structural walls along the height of the building, (b) 135-degree hook ends in transverse ties, and (c) thin masonry walls breaking into smaller Additional horizontal RC element for panel.
B. Ensure that RC works are rectified for the prescribed period using potable water.
c. Properly secure heavy objects such as water tanks and utilities such as electric, gas and water lines to RC members.
d. Ensure regular maintenance of buildings, repair of minor structural and non-structural damages, water leakage from plumbing items/joints, electrical items and general cleanliness of terraces, balconies and edges.
3. Make sure the design meets the requirements for potential earthquakes. Buildings that are symmetrical and regular in plan and height are considered more suitable for earthquake resistant construction. Square or rectangular plan shaped buildings ensure least damage during earthquake tremors. This does not mean that all buildings have to be square.
However it is essential to understand the implications of the design and take appropriate action to counter the effects. Any shape other than a square or rectangle is expected to cause greater damage and special attention should be paid to reinforcing corners by competent structural engineers.
4. Ensure that earthquake resistant design requirements of NBC 2016 are complied with. The cost of construction is marginally higher with earthquake resistant measures.
The additional initial cost required can generally be around 3-4% higher in residential buildings and 2-3% higher in office buildings. This enhancement is necessary to incorporate earthquake resistant features into the structural elements and strengthen them to resist earthquake shaking. Safety first should be the motto.
5. Design and construction of reinforced concrete (RC) buildings best suited for earthquake prone areas
Multi-storey RC frame buildings consist of horizontal members (beams and slabs), vertical members (columns and structural walls) and masonry infill walls. During major earthquakes across the world in the last four decades, it has been observed that RC buildings with Moment Frames (made of beams, columns and slabs) collapsed during earthquake shocks.
On the other hand, RC buildings with moment frames with RC structural walls have performed well without any collapse.
Pillared buildings are unsafe in earthquake prone areas. Also, any building with low or no walls in any upper storey should be acceptable in earthquake prone areas.
An open floor with significantly less lateral stiffness and lateral strength should not be acceptable in a building to be constructed in earthquake prone areas, even if such floor is located in basement floors, ground floor or any other floor above. Such buildings have consistently shown poor performance during past earthquakes around the world.
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