Saudi Press

Saudi Arabia and the world
Friday, Aug 22, 2025

After earthquake, Istanbul gripped by fear that bigger disaster awaits

After earthquake, Istanbul gripped by fear that bigger disaster awaits

The deadliest earthquake in Turkiye’s modern history has reawakened fears on the other side of the country that Istanbul is an even bigger disaster waiting to happen, sending hundreds of thousands scrambling to find safer homes.
Some 5 million of the 16 million residents of Turkiye’s largest city live in risky homes, official data show, given it lies just north of a faultline crossing the Marmara Sea in the northwest of the country.

Since tremors devastated the southeast on Feb. 6, killing more than 50,000, anxiety has gripped the metropolis and revived memories of a 1999 earthquake that killed 17,000 in the region.

Tens of thousands of buildings collapsed in the February quake, drawing accusations that lax building standards across Turkiye generally had contributed to the disaster and fueling concerns about the soundness of many aging buildings in Istanbul. Since the quake, the number of applications in Istanbul to demolish and reconstruct at risk homes — where nearly 500,000 people live — has tripled. The scramble has also exacerbated already sky-high rental housing prices.

“I was conscious of the risk in Istanbul but when such a big earthquake happened it started to feel more real and I began to have anxiety,” said Sevim Aydemir, 25, whose uncle and friends were killed in the quake in the southern city of Antakya.

Fear that another tragedy could strike forced her to leave Istanbul because she could not afford a new apartment there, she said.

Similar fears spread after the 1999 quake but subsided over time.

It is unclear how many people have left Istanbul in the last two months.

Ali Ayilmazdir, head of a home movers’ association, said 15-20 people were now calling companies to request moves each day, compared to 3-5 before the February quake.

The preoccupation with safe housing comes ahead of May 14 elections seen as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s biggest political challenge in his two decades in power.

According to a 2019 report by seismologists, a 7.5 magnitude quake — similar to the one in February — would at least moderately damage 17 percent of the 1.17 million buildings in Istanbul, which straddles the Bosphorus strait dividing Europe and Asia.

However, seismologists said the February disaster has not changed the likelihood of an Istanbul quake, with the two areas on different faultlines.

Yet many residents say they feel trapped by a cost-of-living crisis after inflation surged to a 24-year peak above 85 percent in October and with fewer prospects of finding work elsewhere.

Any disaster in Istanbul would stagger Turkiye’s economy given the broader Marmara region accounts for some 41 percent of national GDP.

Nilay, a doctoral student and new mother, has sought to leave but feels stuck as her husband’s work in finance requires him to be in the city, while safer districts are out of their price range.

“It is impossible to move to places that are said to have more solid ground because of the rising prices after the earthquake,” said Nilay, who lives in the high-risk district of Avcilar by the Marmara Sea.

Turkish rental prices leapt 190 percent in February from a year earlier, with Istanbul rents up 138 percent, according to Bahcesehir University Economic and
Social Research Center, sharply higher than consumer price inflation of 55 percent in February.

Many of those unable to move have instead sought peace of mind by requesting surveys to determine their buildings’ safety, with some 70 percent of buildings constructed before the building code was sharply tightened in 2000.

Some 1.5 million homes are considered at risk in the city, Urban Planning Minister Murat Kurum said this week.

According to official data, an average of more than three people live in each household, meaning up to 5 million live in these properties.

Istanbul municipality’s housing agency KIPTAS says it has received applications to demolish and rebuild at cost price 490,000 homes.

That amounts to 25,000 applications, up from 8,600 before the quake. However, just 200 have reached the construction stage as at least two-thirds of residents in a building must agree to the project, KIPTAS said.

“Unfortunately the fear of this recent quake was not enough to push people for a compromise and agree on rebuilding their homes,” said KIPTAS general manager Ali Kurt.

“People need to accept that their homes are risky.”

More than 150,000 applications have also been made to the municipality requesting assessments of their buildings’ soundness, with processing expected to take a year.

However, fears of what those tests will show are holding many people back.

“This old building is not going to get high marks. There is no need to see that in writing,” said Nurten, 76, a retired civil servant living on Istanbul’s Asian side.

“What if later I am asked to vacate my property? I can’t face that.”
Newsletter

Related Articles

Saudi Press
0:00
0:00
Close
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Miles Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Cristiano Ronaldo Makes Surprise Stop at New Hong Kong Museum
Zelenskyy to Visit Washington after Trump–Putin Summit Yields No Agreement
High-Stakes Trump-Putin Summit on Ukraine Underway in Alaska
Iranian Protection Offers Chinese Vehicle Shipments a Cost Advantage over Japanese and Korean Makers
Saudi Arabia accelerates renewables to curb domestic oil use
Cristiano Ronaldo and Georgina Rodríguez announce engagement
Asia-Pacific dominates world’s busiest flight routes, with South Korea’s Jeju–Seoul corridor leading global rankings
Private Welsh island with 19th-century fort listed for sale at over £3 million
Sam Altman challenges Elon Musk with plans for Neuralink rival
Australia to Recognize the State of Palestine at UN Assembly
The Collapse of the Programmer Dream: AI Experts Now the Real High-Earners
Armenia and Azerbaijan to Sign US-Brokered Framework Agreement for Nakhchivan Corridor
British Labour Government Utilizes Counter-Terrorism Tools for Social Media Monitoring Against Legitimate Critics
WhatsApp Deletes 6.8 Million Scam Accounts Amid Rising Global Fraud
Nine people have been hospitalized and dozens of salmonella cases have been reported after an outbreak of infections linked to certain brands of pistachios and pistachio-containing products, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada
Texas Residents Face Water Restrictions While AI Data Centers Consume Millions of Gallons
Tariffs, AI, and the Shifting U.S. Macro Landscape: Navigating a New Economic Regime
India Rejects U.S. Tariff Threat, Defends Russian Oil Purchases
United States Establishes Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and Digital Asset Stockpile
Thousands of Private ChatGPT Conversations Accidentally Indexed by Google
China Tightens Mineral Controls, Curtailing Critical Inputs for Western Defence Contractors
OpenAI’s Bold Bet: Teaching AI to Think, Not Just Chat
BP’s Largest Oil and Gas Find in 25 Years Uncovered Offshore Brazil
JPMorgan and Coinbase Unveil Partnership to Let Chase Cardholders Buy Crypto Directly
British Tourist Dies Following Hair Transplant in Turkey, Police Investigate
WhatsApp Users Targeted in New Scam Involving Account Takeovers
Trump Deploys Nuclear Submarines After Threats from Former Russian President Medvedev
Germany’s Economic Breakdown and the Return of Militarization: From Industrial Collapse to a New Offensive Strategy
IMF Upgrades Global Growth Forecast as Weaker Dollar Supports Outlook
Politics is a good business: Barack Obama’s Reported Net Worth Growth, 1990–2025
"Crazy Thing": OpenAI's Sam Altman Warns Of AI Voice Fraud Crisis In Banking
Japanese Prime Minister Vows to Stay After Coalition Loses Upper House Majority
President Trump Diagnosed with Chronic Venous Insufficiency After Leg Swelling
Man Dies After Being Pulled Into MRI Machine Due to Metal Chain in New York Clinic
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
"Can You Hit Moscow?" Trump Asked Zelensky To Make Putin "Feel The Pain"
Nvidia Becomes World’s First Four‑Trillion‑Dollar Company Amid AI Boom
Iranian President Reportedly Injured During Israeli Strike on Secret Facility
Kurdistan Workers Party Takes Symbolic Step Towards Peace in Northern Iraq
BRICS Expands Membership with Indonesia and Ten New Partner Countries
Elon Musk Founds a Party Following a Poll on X: "You Wanted It – You Got It!"
AI Raises Alarms Over Long-Term Job Security
Saudi Arabia Maintains Ties with Iran Despite Israel Conflict
Russia Formally Recognizes Taliban Government in Afghanistan
×