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Antakya Antakya (), Turkish form of Antioch, is a municipality and the capital Districts of Turkey, district of Hatay Province, Turkey. Its area is . Prior to the devastating 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, 2023 earthquakes, its population was recorded ...
. It was the first luxury
apartment An apartment (American English, Canadian English), flat (British English, Indian English, South African English), tenement (Scots English), or unit (Australian English) is a self-contained housing unit (a type of residential real estate) that ...
in
Hatay Province Hatay Province (, ) is the southernmost province and metropolitan municipality of Turkey. Its area is , and its population is 1,686,043 (2022). It is situated mostly outside Anatolia, along the eastern coast of the Levantine Sea. The province ...
. On 6 February 2023, it was destroyed as a result of the
2023 Turkey–Syria earthquake 3 (three) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and is the smallest odd prime number and the only prime preceding a square number. It has religious and cultural significance in many societies ...
. The building was constructed between 2011 and 2012 as Hatay Province's first luxury apartment complex, and was the home of many well-off residents of
Antakya Antakya (), Turkish form of Antioch, is a municipality and the capital Districts of Turkey, district of Hatay Province, Turkey. Its area is . Prior to the devastating 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, 2023 earthquakes, its population was recorded ...
. It was created by Antis Yapı, a company that has been around for several decades. During its collapse following the first earthquake, it is believed to have trapped or killed at least over 800 people. It has been noted that the structure of the building was strong and that it did not collapse but rather was pushed over by the earthquake as Dr. Ahmet Ercan puts it. The amplitude of the shockwave of the first earthquake centered in
Gaziantep Gaziantep, historically Aintab and still informally called Antep, is a major city in south-central Turkey. It is the capital of the Gaziantep Province, in the westernmost part of Turkey's Southeastern Anatolia Region and partially in the Medi ...
had dramatically increased by the time it was in Hatay Province causing much more intense and violent movement throughout Hatay than its origin in Gaziantep. Architect/Engineer Yoshinori Moriwaki said that the building lacked friction piles which could have prevented the collapse. The building however did have a
floating raft system Floating raft is a land-based building foundation that protects it against settlement and liquefaction of soft soil from seismic activity. It was a necessary innovation in the development of tall buildings in the wet soil of Chicago in the 19th c ...
.
Geophysics Geophysics () is a subject of natural science concerned with the physical processes and Physical property, properties of Earth and its surrounding space environment, and the use of quantitative methods for their analysis. Geophysicists conduct i ...
Professor Ahmet Ercan said that the foundation of the building likely was not as deep as it should have been to prevent its collapse, saying that it appears to be about 3 metres when it should probably have been about 10. Permits for the building were granted in 2012 by the Ekinciler Belde Municipality. According to
Lütfü Savaş Lütfü Savaş (born 23 March 1965, Yayladağı) is a Turkish politician, doctor and former mayor of Hatay Province of Turkey. Early life and education Savaş was born in the Dağdüzü village in the Yayladağı district of the province of Ha ...
everything in the construction was likely done properly and in accordance with regulations.


Design and construction

The building is Hatay's first
residenz ''Residenz'' () is a German word for "domicile", now obsolete except in the formal sense of an official residence. A related term, ''Residenzstadt'', denotes a city where a sovereign ruler resided, and thus carries a similar meaning to the contemp ...
(Turkish: ''Rezidans'') building. It was constructed to accommodate those working in Hatay's growing importance as a border trade city, being next to the Syrian border. It was home to around 700 residents. Other estimates put the number of residents at 1000. Its building is 12 floors high and contains 249 dwellings, 2 shops; and consists of 4 blocks. The footprint is a space of . The plans range from squared. There building had amenities such as a half Olympic-sized pool, Jacuzzi, gym, sports facilities, children's playground, covered parking, secretary and reception services, walking and biking paths, wake-up service, store, 24/7 security services, and artificial waterfalls. Mehmet Yaşar Coşkun, who was chairman of the Board of Antis Yapı at the time of the development, said that this project will "create an area where all kinds of social activities can take place". The need for parking which is solved inside allows the area around the building to be free for activities to take place. The construction process started in 2011 by Antis Yapı. The first step of the foundation was laid in a ceremony attended by Hatay MP
Sadullah Ergin Sadullah Ergin (born 6 July 1964) is a Turkish people, Turkish politician. Born to Mehmet İsmet Ergin and Hatice Ergin in Antakya. He completed his primary and secondary education there and then studied at the Uludağ University Economics and ...
, Hatay governor H. Celalettin Lekesiz, mayor
Lütfü Savaş Lütfü Savaş (born 23 March 1965, Yayladağı) is a Turkish politician, doctor and former mayor of Hatay Province of Turkey. Early life and education Savaş was born in the Dağdüzü village in the Yayladağı district of the province of Ha ...
, chief constable Ragıp Kılıç and mayor of Ekinci municipality Seyfettin Yeral. It was planned to be delivered during April 2013. It was completed in 2012. Antis Yapı was founded by the architect Mehmet Yaşar Coşkun and engineer Hüseyin Yalçın Coşkun. The licence for the building was granted by the Ekinciler Belde Municipality in 2012 according to
Lütfü Savaş Lütfü Savaş (born 23 March 1965, Yayladağı) is a Turkish politician, doctor and former mayor of Hatay Province of Turkey. Early life and education Savaş was born in the Dağdüzü village in the Yayladağı district of the province of Ha ...
. It was constructed onto a floating raft foundation. It was thought to be "earthquake-proof".


Collapse

The building fell over during the first major shock of the
2023 Turkey–Syria earthquake 3 (three) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and is the smallest odd prime number and the only prime preceding a square number. It has religious and cultural significance in many societies ...
, which severely affected Hatay. In the aftermath of the collapse, it was thought that 800 people were trapped under the building. Officials recorded 269 deaths while 46 unaccounted individuals were presumed dead. The building has become a focus of public anger, several older buildings that were nearby were still standing as of 17 February, while Rönesans Rezidans had fallen over. Dr. Ahmet Ercan, a professor of geophysics, explained on Turkish television news that the problem wasn't a lack of quality in the concrete, but rather that the foundation was not deep enough, and the shockwaves of the first earthquake arrived into Antakya with a much more amplified magnitude than they were nearer to the epicenter. According to Ercan, neither the municipality, the contractor, nor the building inspection board are at fault per se, and so he encouraged a proper analysis of the situation that takes into consideration the resonance of the ground under the building in relation to the waves of the earthquake. This investigation should be done by experts in geophysics and they should neither put the blame on anyone prematurely nor forgive them prematurely. However, the rubble of the building was already cleared out by 24 February, and despite this, it is still unknown how many people died because of the collapse.
Lütfü Savaş Lütfü Savaş (born 23 March 1965, Yayladağı) is a Turkish politician, doctor and former mayor of Hatay Province of Turkey. Early life and education Savaş was born in the Dağdüzü village in the Yayladağı district of the province of Ha ...
, mayor of
Hatay Province Hatay Province (, ) is the southernmost province and metropolitan municipality of Turkey. Its area is , and its population is 1,686,043 (2022). It is situated mostly outside Anatolia, along the eastern coast of the Levantine Sea. The province ...
, said that the building was a project conducted under normal conditions and was very likely constructed properly up to the earthquake standards. He backed up his confidence with the fact that the architect was an idealist and former president of the Chamber of Architects. He said that of course everyone will be questioned as it would be a disservice not and that they will look for what was missing leading to the building's collapse. Ercan said that by the time the shockwave of the earthquake reached Antakya, it had increased instead of reducing in magnitude, so much so that it was equal but opposite to gravity. This caused buildings, even if they had strong and stable structures to experience a force that threw them up into the air from the base up and then pushed them sideways, of which ''Rönesans Rezidans'' is an example. The building is knocked over but it has not collapsed. All the columns and beams appear still strongly attached to each other showing no signs of breakage. A rule of thumb is that for every 5 floors above ground, there should be 1 floor with curtain concrete below ground. It appears that the foundation floor is about , whereas according to this rule of thumb, it should have been about deep. In an interview, Yoshinori Moriwaki, a Japanese architect, and engineer compared Rönesans Rezidans to the surrounding buildings that had not collapsed; he said that the length of the building played a part. However, he suggested that the builders should have made use of a friction piles system, which would have increased the price of the whole project by about 10%. The stakes would go all the way down to where the ground is more stable. He noted however that despite it having fallen over there was not much damage to the structure itself, and that it was fine but also noted that no matter how strong the building is a poor foundation can lead to collapse. However, according to some sources the building was constructed on a
floating raft system Floating raft is a land-based building foundation that protects it against settlement and liquefaction of soft soil from seismic activity. It was a necessary innovation in the development of tall buildings in the wet soil of Chicago in the 19th c ...
which is a solution used when the ground under a building is too soft even for friction piles. He compared the relationship between the architects and engineers in Turkey vs Japan. He said that in Turkey the architect is very powerful, for example, the boss is an architect, and the engineer(s) work(s) for them. In Japan however, he says that since the 1995 Kobe earthquake and the 2011 Sendai-Miyagi earthquake, and the Fukushima disaster that followed, Japan changed the system to give more power to the engineers. Some residents reported concerns about the buildings state already existed before the earthquake that toppled it. One resident, Zekiye Barutçu Yiğitbaşı, claimed that by 2022, the foundation had shifted and cracks began to appear in the corridor, and that her complaints to the landlord were met with ridicule.


Residents

The roughly 250 residential units of the building were home to 700–1,000 people. They were generally the more wealthy residents of Antakya. Many members of the
Hatayspor Hatayspor Kulübü, known as Atakaş Hatayspor due to sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish professional football club located in Antakya, Hatay Province. Hatayspor, founded in 1967 through a merger of three local clubs, aimed to promote sports and po ...
team are said to have been living in the building. Team manager
Volkan Demirel Volkan Demirel (; born 27 October 1981) is a Turkish association football, football coach, pundit and former international goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper. For many years, he was the starting goalkeeper of Fenerbahçe S.K. (football ...
also had lived in the building and has said that two of his neighbors died. Player Christian Atsu and technical director Taner Savut were among the members of Hatayspor be under the wreckage, a thermal imaging camera determined signs of life in the wreckage and it was reported that Atsu had been rescued but that Savut is still missing, however it was later reported that Atsu was also still missing. Atsu is believed to have been on the 9th floor when the building collapsed, his body was found by 18 February confirming that he had died. Taner Savut was also later identified and confirmed dead in a hospital in
Adana Adana is a large city in southern Turkey. The city is situated on the Seyhan River, inland from the northeastern shores of the Mediterranean Sea. It is the administrative seat of the Adana Province, Adana province, and has a population of 1 81 ...
. Handball player Cemal Kütahya along with his wife and kids, and educator Hülya Aydın have also been reported missing in the wreckage. Kutahya and one of his sons have since been reported dead. Ambassador Devrim Öztürk's body could not be located in the aftermath. The building is also said to have been the home of many doctors. Doctor Şebnem Turan Adıgüzel who was rescued from the rubble said that some of her colleagues had died.


Rescue efforts

A Hungarian rescue team removed 12 survivors from the wreckage. Hungarian Firefighter Lieutenant Colonel Dániel Mukics personally rescued a resident named Selma from the wreckage at the 47th hour. He was part of a 55-person team. A team of 75 Turkish coal miners removed 40 survivors from the wreckage in the 7 consecutive days that they were at the scene. A team from China has also been working building. The Erzurum Search and Rescue Team (ERAKUT) who belong to the Erzurum Metropolitan Municipality Fire Brigade Department also arrived at the scene and were involved in the rescuing of a 9-year-old boy.


Arrests

The contractor of the building, Mehmet Yaşar Coşkun, was arrested at the airport in
Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...
. He was on his way to
Montenegro , image_flag = Flag of Montenegro.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Montenegro.svg , coa_size = 80 , national_motto = , national_anthem = () , image_map = Europe-Mont ...
where he said he was working on some other projects. He said his trip had nothing to do with the earthquake and that he was not fleeing. He was sent to
Metris Prison Metris Prison (), or officially Metris Closed Penitentiary () is a state correctional institution in the Esenler district of Istanbul Province in Turkey. The prison complex consists of two T-type buildings. The current prison director is Zeki Uzun ...
. The locations of the project manager İbrahim Dahiroğlu and the site manager Bayram Mansuroğlu are unknown. Coşkuns lawyer stated that "the public is looking for a criminal, a culprit. My client was picked as this culprit". Coşkun said that the building was solid and had all the necessary licenses.


References


Citations


Sources

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Further reading

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External links

*{{Instagram, id=explore/locations/262404251/ronesans-rezidans, name=Rönesans Rezidans 2012 establishments in Turkey Residential buildings completed in 2012 Buildings and structures in Hatay Province Buildings and structures destroyed by the 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquake 21st-century architecture in Turkey History of Antakya