Antalya engineers warn 16 districts, including Kaş, Manavgat and Kemer, lack staff to check building ground surveys

Most district municipalities in Antalya have no geophysical engineers on staff to check the ground surveys submitted for new buildings, the local branch of the Chamber of Geophysical Engineers said on Friday, urging mayors to act before the next earthquake.

Yüksel Karaman, chair of the chamber’s Antalya branch, made the warning on the 15th anniversary of the 23 October 2011 Van earthquake, local daily Antalya Ekspres reported. That magnitude 7.2 quake in eastern Türkiye killed more than 600 people.

"Earthquakes don’t kill people; the collapse of buildings does," Karaman said, according to the paper.

Which districts were named

Karaman listed 16 of Antalya’s 19 district municipalities as having no geophysical engineers employed: Muratpaşa, Kepez, Konyaaltı, Aksu and Döşemealtı in the metropolitan area, plus Kemer, Kaş, Demre, Finike, Kumluca, Manavgat, Korkuteli, Elmalı, Akseki, Gündoğmuş and İbradı. The list includes the central districts where most of the city’s apartment stock is, as well as coastal areas popular with foreign buyers.

He said geological and geophysical studies are carried out for buildings, but their results can only be relied on if the public sector employs specialists to audit them. Without that oversight, he argued, the surveys risk becoming a formality. He said mayors carry the greatest responsibility for protecting residents’ right to life in a disaster.

Why ground surveys matter

In Türkiye, a ground survey report (zemin etüdü) is required before a building permit is issued. It describes the soil and rock under the plot and how strongly the ground is likely to shake, which engineers then use to design the foundations and structure. Weak or alluvial ground, which is common on coastal plains, can amplify shaking.

The issue has gained urgency since the February 2023 earthquakes in southern Türkiye killed more than 53,000 people, many of them in buildings that had not been built or checked properly. The government has since pushed large urban renewal programmes, while recent collapses such as in Istanbul’s Maltepe district have kept building safety in the headlines.

Tips for buyers

Antalya lies in a seismically active region. Foreigners buying property there can ask the seller or developer for the ground survey report and the occupancy permit (iskan), check the building’s construction year (the current national earthquake code took effect in 2019) and consider an independent structural inspection for older blocks. Compulsory earthquake insurance (DASK) is required for the title deed transfer and for utility subscriptions.

Our guides to living in Antalya and buying property in Türkiye as a foreigner cover the purchase process in more detail.

Sources

• Depremin yıl dönümünde kritik uyarı (Antalya Ekspres)

Photo: Adam Kring / Unsplash License, via Unsplash