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I take in the catastrophe in Turkey and Syria with profound sadness. The scale of destruction is surreal, and the numbers for loss of life and displaced persons are staggering. And it's probably only going to get a lot worse. What questions should we ask about this tragedy as civil engineers that the mainstream news is not covering? I do not think the factors behind the disaster are any secret. A simple search on "turkey earthquake building code" will pull up many articles from reputable sources that will give one a lot of insight here. Often, there are a lot of insights in the reader comments too.  

My questions are where was the reporting in the civil engineering community regarding the policies and practices in Turkey that were putting thousands of structures, and millions of people, at risk from earthquakes, and who should have been doing this reporting? While admittedly, it is challenging to call substandard building practices into question, the amnesty program was well known. This article from the Financial Times is particularly damning.

Excellent question, Mitch. 

One issue that western cultures tend to minimize is historical cultural practices and beliefs.  By "historical" I mean timeframes and events in the past.  Past 20 years?  Past 75 years?  Past 2000 years? What are those events and beliefs that a people have about themselves?

The cultural beliefs are relevant, as events and philosophies of life influence end results.  Not all cultures have the same outlook on the value of human life.  Is the prevailing thought that "it doesn't matter what you do, because life is an act of being on auto-pilot?"  Or is the prevailing thought that all life is created precious, and therefore is precious?  Two completely different and diverging world views.  And the results play out in every day life.

- Paul

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Paul Currier P.E., M.ASCE
Principal
Water Resource Cons., L.L.C.
Rifle CO
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How to get leaders, starting at the very top - the elected national leaders, to prioritize the health, safety & welfare of the people? How to do this in one of the world's most earthquake-prone regions? How to do this with limited financial resources and professional capacity? How to train & support design professionals and construction contractors to build, and rebuild, earthquake-tolerant structures? How to construct/reconstruct infrastructure that will maintain access during & after an earthquake to provide quick and reliable relief to victims? How to institutionalize an approach to avoid, minimize, and mitigate the effects of the next, inevitable, earthquake?

As engineers we often say we can accomplish anything, given enough time and/or money. However, this also requires the political will that will stand against greed and corruption.