Earthquakes in Turkey: a predictable and deplorable tragedy

"Following the 1999 earthquake, important lessons were learned in terms of engineering, architecture and urban planning," Özdoğan recalled. "The government tightened building regulations and created AFAD, the government authority responsible for the country's disaster management system."

Then, after the 2011 Van earthquake, Turkey's Urban Transformation Law came into effect. "This law would have been very successful if it could have been implemented in all urban cities, but that was not the case," Özdoğan said.

As a result, it is estimated that two-thirds of Turkey's housing stock is not earthquake-resistant. Morover, there is not enough inspection of construction work, and so "the industry is being left in the hands of contractors who use poor quality materials and labour," said Özdoğan.

The industry is also rife with political meddling, she added. "The situation we see today is the result of a political process that has been going on for 20 years, namely the zoning amnesties that forgive and formalize buildings built by people who did not use professional architects and engineers."

Furthermore, she noted, the quality of Turkish university education in architecture and building engineering is questionable, especially due to the lack of qualified professors. "In Turkey, education in these fields should be at a higher level and a common literature should be created, so that students have the same knowledge when they graduate," she insisted.

As it stands, "every architect and engineer who graduates from undergraduate studies in Turkey has the power to sign off on projects," she added, "and there is no professional qualification process, which increases the risk that these young, inexperienced colleagues will make mistakes."

After starting her university studies at the age of 17, Özdoğan obtained her bachelor's degree in architecture at the Yıldız Teknik School of Engineering in Istanbul. She then completed an MSc in Development and Emergency Practice at Oxford Brookes University, in England.

Her dissertation there focused on the consequences in major Turkish cities of immigration arising from disasters and the conflict in Syria. She also carried out research assignments in Colombia, Lebanon and France, where she learned French.

She then carried out several professional mandates in Turkey and internationally, notably in Azerbaijan and Qatar, where she supervised the construction of the Al-Thumama stadium for the 2022 World Cup.

Eager to join UdeM's Disaster Resilience and Sustainable Reconstruction Research Alliance

Özdoğan started her PhD here in January under the direction of Professor Gonzalo Lizarralde. author of the 2021 book Unnatural Disasters. She wants to contribute to the research group by sharing lessons from Turkey.

"My research interests are in disaster management and the reconstruction of cities affected by disasters, including the analysis of the relationship between how a country organizes its response and the subsequent stages of reconstruction," Özdoğan said.

"My work aims to understand the needs of communities and to propose sustainable solutions to bridge the gaps between needs and services provided."

She added: "Above all, I hope that my research will help prevent tragedies like the one in my country from happening again, both in Turkey and in other disaster-prone regions of the world. With climate change and urban populations increasing everywhere in the world's major cities, risk-management research will help us all better prepare and respond."