Turkey earthquake death toll prompts questions over building standards

A man walks across the rubble of collapsed building toward in Kahramanmaras, close to the quake's centre, on 7 February 2023. Photograph: Adem Altan/AFP/Getty Images

The rapidly mounting death toll in Turkey after Monday’s twin earthquakes has raised questions over how far poorly enforced building standards, in a country whose economy has long relied on construction to drive growth, have exacerbated the catastrophe.

Turkey has introduced new building codes, requiring new construction to be earthquake resilient, not least following the 1999 Izmit earthquake in which over 17,000 people died, but these have often been loosely enforced in a country where over half of all buildings were put up illegally.