This terrible earthquake could be the end of Erdogan (Telegraph)

[cyprusmax47]

Very good article in the press today (Telegraph) and also my opinion....

https://www.yahoo.com/news/earthquake-c ... 00736.html

Max

[WHL]

I wouldn't bet on it, Dictators don't give up easy, just look at how many journalists he has locked up, ( second only to China), also look at how many of his opponents he has locked up, he will rig the elections in his favour one way or the other,

[Kili01]

I think that time will tell what happens to Erdogan, probably at present he must be occupied with trying to sort out the aftermath. . Turkey has suffered a terrible tragedy and certainly needs international aid for its people.
Also we should be aware that some of our housing stock in Cyprus may not be up to scratch either should the island be unlucky enough to have a really bad earthquake.
Dee

[Devil]

I would suggest that most buildings completed prior to 1995 are probably not earthquake-proofed. Those that were marketed between 1995 and 2000 may or may not be proofed, depending when they were actually approved and built. My house was marketed in 1997 and is proofed, probably because it was built after 1995.

The efficacy of the proofing is actually totally unknown because it must depend on many factors, such as the nature, thickness and depth of the rock underneath it. The proof of the pudding is in the eating, so let's hope that we starve for the rest of our lifetime!

[sunspot]

There are no building inspectors here, so whether contractors follow the code is entirely up to them, I think. And the moment the walls are closed, all omissions are concealed. I would be happy to be told I am wrong. Our house was built in 2000.

[WHL]

There are no building inspectors here, so whether contractors follow the code is entirely up to them, I think. And the moment the walls are closed, all omissions are concealed. I would be happy to be told I am wrong. Our house was built in 2000.

I bought my house on plan, over thirty years ago, i employed a civil engineer who came with me to discuss everything with the developer, he made sure all earthquake protection was correct, made some tweaks into the contract, and visited the build many times to make sure the build complied to the contract we signed.

[Dominic]

It is also worth remembering that there is a reason there are so many archaeological ruins in Cyprus. Earthquake damage is all around us. I've lost count of the number of ruins I have visited that were abandoned as a result of an Earthquake.

[cyprusmax47]

When I built my last house in 1996 my architect asked me if I want to raise the standard earthquake prove to a higher figure (I can't remember the exact number ...8,6 ?) and I decided to go for the higher number. After I experienced in 1995 (5.9) and 1996 (6.8) my first earthquakes in the Polis district and they were nasty and damaged the pool of my previous house I accepted the higher costs for that decision. The architect choose different iron from a different country and the foundation of the house including patios was raised to one meter instead of 30 cm. For this I had to spent 50k extra. The Architect was on site with every step of the building process. Important also was that before any decision was made, the Architect took soil examples and sent it to the Authorities in Paphos with the result that the existing soil had to be removed and replaced by different material.

Max

[Devil]

I bought this house in 1997 but, before doing so, I had queried with the architect/civil engineer about earthquakes. He informed me that the building conformed to the latest regulations and pointed out to me the visible skeleton of earthquake-proofing and also explained the invisible earthworks supporting the building. Apart from that, we are not in a major earthquake area. I vaguely felt the 1999 Limassol quake, as I was getting out of bed, for about 20 seconds or so. The only other one of unknown date that I have felt here was centred in Aradippou, lasting a few seconds, but was very shallow and caused no damage that I know of.

[Firefly]

I did hear a report that a lot of the damage was due to modern construction, i.e concrete houses with concrete roofs.

Our house in Cyprus was a renovated and extended old stone house, we had an arch in the hallway that was part of the original house. We were told that all old houses had an internal arch as protection during earthquake. Don't know if it's true, but I suppose it might be.

[Dominic]

You don't see many arches in the abandoned villages. There's one in Foinikas, but that's the exception, rather than the rule. Having said that, we have seen a few in other villages. Theletra has a couple for instance. Our own house has one two, though that is fairly modern.

[Kili01]

When we had our house in Kamares built circa 1999, we asked for earhquake protection. Leptos senior architect told us that our house would be built on a reinforced concrete raft which was designed to move if there was an earthquake. All the pillars in the house, particularly those on the corners, were steel reinforced, before concrete added, there were reinforced concrete beams internally, and also a reinforced internal archway. Every external wall was double bricked, with wall ties and insulation. Every doorway had a reinforced lintel.
The concete pitched roof was also constructed in a similar way. The house was and felt very safe, and even after several minor quakes and earth tremors there were no cracks in the concrete.
My present house on an older development hasn't had the same care in the build, so I'm wondering whether to ask a structural engineer to come and take a look at it and advise.
Dee