Earthquake Risk Management: Failures of Modern Buildings in the 2023 Turkey-Syria Earthquakes

Abstract

The devastating earthquakes that struck southern Turkey and northern Syria on February 6, 2023, exposed severe weaknesses in the seismic resilience of modern buildings. Despite being designed under updated seismic regulations such as the Turkish Earthquake Code (TEC-2018), many reinforced concrete structures suffered catastrophic collapse. This paper investigates the structural and regulatory failures that led to the loss of over 53,000 lives and the destruction of more than 518,000 buildings.

Through a detailed analysis of forensic engineering reports, case studies, and comparisons with international collapses, the research identifies critical engineering deficiencies, such as soft-story configurations, weak concrete quality, inadequate reinforcement detailing, and poor construction practices. It also highlights systemic regulatory gaps, including construction amnesties, political corruption, and the widespread lack of independent inspections. Case studies such as Rönesans Rezidans, Isias Hotel, and Galeria Sitesi demonstrate how these failures manifested in both high-rise and mid-rise structures, with fatal outcomes.

The findings reveal that code compliance alone is insufficient without robust enforcement and accountability. The study proposes actionable recommendations for improving earthquake resilience through mandatory retrofitting, stricter enforcement, independent structural audits, and public transparency. This research contributes to the growing body of evidence that earthquake-related collapses are largely preventable, and that meaningful change requires political will and engineering integrity.