
Sign up to save your podcasts
Or


Millions of residents living in Istanbul face the dilemma of whether or not to find out if the buildings where they live are resilient to earthquakes. Many cannot afford to do anything about it even if they are unsafe. A year on from the earthquakes in south-east Turkey that killed over 53,000 people, it is clear poorly built homes, hospitals and hotels that collapsed within seconds contributed to the high death toll. There are warnings that a similar fate awaits Istanbul, where scientists predict a major earthquake could strike any day now. Emily Wither looks at the challenges facing Istanbul and discovers a story of politics, poor urban planning and a struggle to find safe housing.
By BBC World Service4.3
16071,607 ratings
Millions of residents living in Istanbul face the dilemma of whether or not to find out if the buildings where they live are resilient to earthquakes. Many cannot afford to do anything about it even if they are unsafe. A year on from the earthquakes in south-east Turkey that killed over 53,000 people, it is clear poorly built homes, hospitals and hotels that collapsed within seconds contributed to the high death toll. There are warnings that a similar fate awaits Istanbul, where scientists predict a major earthquake could strike any day now. Emily Wither looks at the challenges facing Istanbul and discovers a story of politics, poor urban planning and a struggle to find safe housing.

7,913 Listeners

376 Listeners

1,067 Listeners

5,576 Listeners

977 Listeners

586 Listeners

1,729 Listeners

1,018 Listeners

357 Listeners

580 Listeners

965 Listeners

410 Listeners

429 Listeners

746 Listeners

841 Listeners

363 Listeners

1,015 Listeners

3,245 Listeners

1,024 Listeners

779 Listeners

1,010 Listeners

394 Listeners