Building evacuated in Istanbul following Çınarcık earthquake

The 4.1 magnitude earthquake, centered in the Çınarcık district of Yalova, was also felt in Istanbul. Following the earthquake, which occurred at 23:53, the ceiling of a balcony on the 3rd floor of a 4-story building in Güngören collapsed. Upon notification, fire, police, and municipal police teams were dispatched to the scene. The teams' inspection determined that the building was at risk.

While the shop located under the building was sealed, residents were given a deadline to vacate their homes. Residents stated that there were minor damages even before the earthquake, that they had seen small cracks in the columns, and that they had constantly experienced water leakage issues from the ceilings.

RESIDENTS EXPERIENCED ANXIETY

Building resident Kahraman Hama Elhacı said, "I was at home and felt it a little. We called the municipality. They came and looked. They had us sign a document to vacate our home. We don't know where to go. The building is about 57 years old. Because it is an old building, it should have been taken care of before the earthquake, but no one did. They came around 02:00 yesterday. They said, 'You must leave immediately.' As I said, we don't know where to go. Let the municipality hear our voice. We went out to the balcony. We saw it; it was in bad condition. When we first heard the sound, we wondered if there had been an explosion. A neighbor explained it. We went and looked, too. Then we evacuated immediately."

"THERE WAS A SOUND DURING THE EARTHQUAKE, WE THOUGHT IT WAS AN ACCIDENT"

Hasan Samter said, "I was at home during the earthquake. There was a small tremor. It was short anyway. At that moment, there was a sound. I live on the top floor. The plaster of the balcony had fallen down. At that moment, we thought there had been a car accident. Everyone on the side came to the window. They looked to see what was happening. There was a sound from my downstairs neighbor. When we looked down, the plaster was completely on the ground. We notified the municipality. The municipality came and performed a check. Later, they evacuated us. They said, 'Take your valuable belongings by this evening, otherwise we will seal it.' We took our belongings. We are outside. The columns are not sound. Most are wet. Our roof is not in good condition.

Since I live on the top floor, I talked to the other homeowners a lot. I sent the videos. Even though I said, 'This roof won't hold, we will have problems in the future,' they didn't pay attention. Maybe if we had taken precautions, this plaster wouldn't have fallen today. We would still be sitting in our homes. We are not in a position to have the house repaired. We don't know how it will be done. We got into a situation. We talked to the municipality. They took samples from the columns. They will let us know accordingly. I suppose there will be rental assistance. We are waiting for news from them," he said.