Turkey: Preparing for earthquakes, Istanbul rattles its apartment dwellers

Turkey is considering how to prepare its capital, Istanbul for a potential earthquake. Scientists believe that the North Anatolian Faultline, only 20 miles away from the city, will most probably rupture and destroy two thirds of the city’s apartments, reports The Atlantic.

The earthquake preparation is "not really an engineering problem. It's a social problem and economic problem," said Metin Ilkisik, a civil engineer who helped draft Istanbul's first "Earthquake Master Plan" in the early 2000s.

The World Bank estimates that 95 per cent of the land of Turkey is "under threat of natural disaster." A new law, the Natural Disaster Law allows the government to survey and draft renovation plans for any neighborhood in Turkey that is under threat of any natural disaster. The new law makes it illegal for owners to protest or go to court to stop the demolition of their homes.