The heartbreak of the earthquake in Turkey brought back memories of a friend from our days as an Army family.
Barbara and I were both young mothers at an apartment complex in Monterey, California. Both our husbands were in the military, although mine left after three years and hers continued, retiring a few years ago.We only lived in Monterey for about two years, but Barbara and I continued to write to each other – letters in those long ago times - as I settled in Massachusetts and she did anything but, traveling around as you do as an Army family.
One of their postings was to Turkey and I recall her describing the building going up outside her living room window. If you’re home with small kids, that’s what you do, noting the progress as the stories are added. Looking more closely one day she saw newspaper being stuffed into gaps before being cemented over.
No wonder today's news was this:
Istanbul, Turkey CNN —
Nearly 200 people have been arrested for alleged poor building construction following the catastrophic earthquake that struck Turkey earlier this month, Turkey’s Justice Ministry said.
About 50,000 people were killed across Turkey and Syria after the earthquake struck on February 6.
The ministry said that 626 people were “suspects” after buildings fully collapsed or were seriously damaged in the wake of the earthquakes. Some of the suspects died in the quake while police are still hunting for others.
Oh my!
ReplyDeleteNewspaper? I'm guessing they don't have building inspectors and codes that must be strictly adhered to for construction. As far as I know, here in Australia, every stage of construction must be inspected and passed before the next stage can be built.
ReplyDeleteWow. This is more sad than surprising, these poor people were living in high-rise houses of cards for the most part. 50,000 people... that number goes up everytime I see a story about Turkey. These tragedies (like the toxic train derailment in Ohio) are a sad reminder that short-cuts will always be more costly. 😔
ReplyDeleteIt is obvious from the pictures we see that some buildings were not properly built. I do hope they hold those people in contempt. What about Erdogan? He let it happen.
ReplyDeleteHaving lived in Morocco and watched construction there, I'm not at all surprised by the collapse of buildings in other countries where there's not a strong regulatory presence.
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