Follow the latest on the earthquake in Turkey
The 7.8-magnitude earthquake that hit Turkey in the early hours of Monday morning is not the first to cause devastation in the country.
Much of Turkey lies on fault lines meaning that small and moderate earthquakes are common.
Monday’s quake brought down at least 6,000 buildings across the 10 provinces of Turkey, including hospitals and other public premises. The true scale of the damage and death toll is still being assessed.
But the threat has been well-known for years.
Earthquake researchers say there is a 95 per cent chance that an earthquake of magnitude 7.0 or stronger will strike Istanbul within the next 70 years. Such an event, they warn, would be likely to destroy at least 194,000 buildings and leave at least 10 per cent of the city’s 15 million inhabitants homeless.
Following Turkey’s last major earthquake, which hit Izmir in 1999, killed over 17,000 people, left another 50,000 injured and 500,000 homeless, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who was then prime minister and is now President, took action.
Turkey's government passed legislation in 2004 mandating that all new construction met modern earthquake-proof standards.
Mr Erdogan made strong construction a political priority after another quake struck the Aegean coast in 2020, killing 114 people.
And yet experts say that the years of rapid, loosely-overseen development since the laws were passed means they may not have been enforced. That is on top of those built before they came into force.
The construction of buildings was also not “really adequate for an area that's susceptible to large earthquakes”, Roger Musson, honorary research associate at the British Geological Survey, told AFP.
Joanna Faure Walker, head of the University College London's Institute for Risk and Disaster Reduction, called for Turkey to check whether the legislation had been adhered to in light of the latest disaster.
She also urged Turkey to review “whether there is the possibility to improve the safety of older buildings”.
Carmen Solana, a volcanologist at the UK's Portsmouth University, said that because earthquakes cannot be predicted, tremor-resistant buildings are crucial in affected areas.
“The resistant infrastructure is unfortunately patchy in southern Turkey and especially Syria, so saving lives now mostly relies [on efforts to rescue survivors],” she said.
In Istanbul, Tayfun Kahraman, then head of the municipality’s Earthquake Risk Management Department, told Reuters in 2020 that “we do not believe that building regulations were applied correctly in Istanbul in the past”. However, he insisted that was changing.
“If strengthening the structures is determined to be a practical intervention, then this will be offered as a solution,” he said at the time.
So what can be done to prevent a building from collapsing?
In Japan, all buildings — even temporary ones — must be able to withstand powerful earthquakes. Building codes stipulate that smaller quakes shouldn’t damage buildings — they must be able to move and dissipate energy.
One way is using shock absorbers in the base, usually rubber blocks under the foundations and in the internal structures. Designing the buildings using regular columns and spacing helps prevent them from collapsing as does ensuring the materials are of sufficient standards and no corners are being cut.
This can be expensive, but not always.
World's deadliest earthquakes — in pictures
Using the appropriate strength of concrete and rebar steel in a building is important and straightforward. Even without additional measures, ensuring that the basic fabric of the structure is well-built is key.
That can be applied in middle-income and developing countries.
When an 8.2 magnitude quake hit Chile in 2014, only six people were killed and nine injured.
Experts attributed the small toll to tight building regulations.
“They’re a seismically active region of the world and they are very good at implementing their building codes, similar to California,” John Bellini, a Denver-based geophysicist at the US Geological Survey, told CNN at the time.
The country also had up-to-date planning. They evacuated over a million people from the city of Coquimbo within hours of the first quake, to save people from tsunamis. It meant that there was a much lower risk of casualties if aftershocks brought down buildings that were already damaged.
However, experts all agree that preparing for earthquakes is only half the battle. Looking at what worked and learning from mistakes after major quakes, as well as sharing best practices between at-risk countries, helps engineers find the best design to mitigate devastation.
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Sinopharm vaccine explained
The Sinopharm vaccine was created using techniques that have been around for decades.
“This is an inactivated vaccine. Simply what it means is that the virus is taken, cultured and inactivated," said Dr Nawal Al Kaabi, chair of the UAE's National Covid-19 Clinical Management Committee.
"What is left is a skeleton of the virus so it looks like a virus, but it is not live."
This is then injected into the body.
"The body will recognise it and form antibodies but because it is inactive, we will need more than one dose. The body will not develop immunity with one dose," she said.
"You have to be exposed more than one time to what we call the antigen."
The vaccine should offer protection for at least months, but no one knows how long beyond that.
Dr Al Kaabi said early vaccine volunteers in China were given shots last spring and still have antibodies today.
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A new relationship with the old country
Treaty of Friendship between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United Arab Emirates
The United kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United Arab Emirates; Considering that the United Arab Emirates has assumed full responsibility as a sovereign and independent State; Determined that the long-standing and traditional relations of close friendship and cooperation between their peoples shall continue; Desiring to give expression to this intention in the form of a Treaty Friendship; Have agreed as follows:
ARTICLE 1 The relations between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United Arab Emirates shall be governed by a spirit of close friendship. In recognition of this, the Contracting Parties, conscious of their common interest in the peace and stability of the region, shall: (a) consult together on matters of mutual concern in time of need; (b) settle all their disputes by peaceful means in conformity with the provisions of the Charter of the United Nations.
ARTICLE 2 The Contracting Parties shall encourage education, scientific and cultural cooperation between the two States in accordance with arrangements to be agreed. Such arrangements shall cover among other things: (a) the promotion of mutual understanding of their respective cultures, civilisations and languages, the promotion of contacts among professional bodies, universities and cultural institutions; (c) the encouragement of technical, scientific and cultural exchanges.
ARTICLE 3 The Contracting Parties shall maintain the close relationship already existing between them in the field of trade and commerce. Representatives of the Contracting Parties shall meet from time to time to consider means by which such relations can be further developed and strengthened, including the possibility of concluding treaties or agreements on matters of mutual concern.
ARTICLE 4 This Treaty shall enter into force on today’s date and shall remain in force for a period of ten years. Unless twelve months before the expiry of the said period of ten years either Contracting Party shall have given notice to the other of its intention to terminate the Treaty, this Treaty shall remain in force thereafter until the expiry of twelve months from the date on which notice of such intention is given.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF the undersigned have signed this Treaty.
DONE in duplicate at Dubai the second day of December 1971AD, corresponding to the fifteenth day of Shawwal 1391H, in the English and Arabic languages, both texts being equally authoritative.
Signed
Geoffrey Arthur Sheikh Zayed
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Key figures in the life of the fort
Sheikh Dhiyab bin Isa (ruled 1761-1793) Built Qasr Al Hosn as a watchtower to guard over the only freshwater well on Abu Dhabi island.
Sheikh Shakhbut bin Dhiyab (ruled 1793-1816) Expanded the tower into a small fort and transferred his ruling place of residence from Liwa Oasis to the fort on the island.
Sheikh Tahnoon bin Shakhbut (ruled 1818-1833) Expanded Qasr Al Hosn further as Abu Dhabi grew from a small village of palm huts to a town of more than 5,000 inhabitants.
Sheikh Khalifa bin Shakhbut (ruled 1833-1845) Repaired and fortified the fort.
Sheikh Saeed bin Tahnoon (ruled 1845-1855) Turned Qasr Al Hosn into a strong two-storied structure.
Sheikh Zayed bin Khalifa (ruled 1855-1909) Expanded Qasr Al Hosn further to reflect the emirate's increasing prominence.
Sheikh Shakhbut bin Sultan (ruled 1928-1966) Renovated and enlarged Qasr Al Hosn, adding a decorative arch and two new villas.
Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan (ruled 1966-2004) Moved the royal residence to Al Manhal palace and kept his diwan at Qasr Al Hosn.
Sources: Jayanti Maitra, www.adach.ae