Urban seismic risk

The IDNDR secretariat launched the RADIUS (risk assessment tools for diagnosis of urban areas against seismic disasters) initiative in 1996 to promote worldwide activities for the reduction of urban seismic risk, which experienced rapid growth particularly in developing countries, by helping to raise public awareness.

This theme refers to the measurement and management of urban hazards and vulnerability in order to improve awareness and local capacity to effectively reduce disaster risk.

[10] After the 2011 Van earthquakes Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said: "Municipalities, constructors and supervisors should now see that their negligence amounts to murder.

[8][12] Improvements included design supervision and site specific hazard definitions,[13] and for new buildings in vulnerable regions required rebar in high quality concrete.

[4] In a bid to shore up support going into the 2018 Turkish presidential election, the government offered amnesties for violations of the building code, allowing non-compliance to continue with the payment of a fee.

Similar to methodologies used in nuclear reactors,[23] a seismic walkdown of the city is the best way to identify vulnerabilities and possible places for improvement.

[citation needed] Even in buildings which are capable of withstanding an earthquake without structural failure there may be risk to people due to interior hazards.