Al Jazeera’s Natasha Ghoneim is in the city of Erzin, in Hatay province, where there were no building collapses or deaths due to the earthquakes.
“There are a number of factors that would explain why Erzin has been minimally touched in a province that has been devastated with about 14,000 deaths,” Ghoneim said.
“Erzin is about 40km [25 miles] west of a fault line; in between the fault line, there’s a mountain and that mountain likely created a barrier, experts say,” she added.
“In addition, it is at a higher sea level and a lot of the buildings are constructed on bedrock – harder ground that’s better able to withstand the swaying that occurs during an earthquake, unlike a city, for example, Antakya, which was levelled. There, buildings were constructed on sand and clay which is more vulnerable,” Ghoneim explained.
“Experts also say that there’s a longstanding issue across the southern region of the use of shoddy materials and lax enforcement of earthquake engineering standards and building codes.”
Still, Ghoneim noted that people in the city are angry because they say this impression of Erzin having fared quite well after the earthquake is preventing aid from getting here.