First, the bottom floor crumbled.

首先，底層先崩塌。

Then the rest of the building came down on top of it in what's known as a "pancake collapse".

然後建築的其餘部分「鬆餅式倒塌」。

Thousands of buildings near the epicenter in southern Turkey and northern Syria tumbled straight down in a similar way.

土耳其南部和敘利亞北部震央附近的數千座建築物以類似方式直接倒塌。

The intensity of the earthquakes alone carried the potential for destruction.

僅地震的強度就有可能造成如此強大的破壞力。

But it's the pancake collapses that have made this one of the deadliest disasters in the region.

但「鬆餅式倒塌」才是讓這次地震成為該地區最致命的災難之一的原因。

Even in very well-designed and executed building would have suffered.

這場地震中，即使設計和蓋得再好的建築也會受到影響。

This doesn't rule out that the buildings were free of defect.

但這並不能排除這些建築物沒有缺陷。

"How well buildings protected residents played a significant role in lives saved and lost."

「建築物對於保護居民的程度在挽救和造成生命逝去方面影響甚鉅。」

"Clearly a lot of these buildings were not up to standard."

「顯然，這些建築中有很多都不符合標準。」

The death toll continues to climb as many victims are still stuck under the weight of the buildings.

由於許多受害者仍被困在建築物的重壓下，死亡人數繼續攀升。

So what is it about these buildings that has made this earthquake even more devastating?

那麼，這些建築物到底出了什麼問題讓這次的地震比以往都更加極其嚴重呢？

First, let's look at the larger region that's prone to severe earthquakes because of these two fault lines.

首先，讓我們看看因這兩條斷層線而容易發生強烈地震的大範圍區域。

They sit along tectonic plates that meet one another and cause friction.

它們位於彼此相遇並引起摩擦的構造板塊上。

When the friction builds up, a powerful earthquake is eventually released.

當摩擦力積累到一定程度時，最終會釋放出強烈的地震。

Over the last century, Turkey has seen major earthquakes along both fault lines.

在過去的一個世紀裡，土耳其在這兩條斷層線上都發生過大地震。

The most recent one happened here.

最近的一次發生在這裡。

This is the seismic impact that shows the epicenter.

這是顯示震央的地震影響報告。

When you take a closer look at the most impacted areas, they were densely populated with Syrian refugees who ended up living in buildings that were haphazardly built and largely neglected.

當你仔細觀察受影響最嚴重的地區時，會發現那里居住著大量敘利亞難民，他們住在隨意建造且基本上被忽視的建築物中。

And across the border in Syria, buildings in these areas were already weakened by the prolonged civil war.

而在敘利亞的另一邊，這些地區的建築已經因長期內戰而變得脆弱不堪。

But what really complicates this disaster is that Turkey was aware of the buildings that were the most high risk.

但真正讓這場災難的成因如此複雜的是，土耳其知道該國的建築物是高危險的。

They're called soft-story structures.

這種建築物被稱為「軟底層結構建築」。

A soft-story building is typically a large structure with multiple floors and an open plan on the bottom.

軟底層結構建築通常是一個大型的建築，有多個樓層，底部是開放式的。

That bottom floor can sometimes be a parking garage space for small businesses or extra homes.

底層有時可以用作小型企業或額外住宅的停車庫空間。

These buildings are very common throughout the world, especially in countries like India, Pakistan, and Turkey.

這些建築在世界各地非常普遍，尤其是在印度、巴基斯坦和土耳其等國家。

Because they offer a solution to overcrowding in densely populated areas.

因為這類建築物解決了人口稠密地區的過度擁擠問題。

But they historically do a poor job of withstanding medium to powerful earthquakes.

但從歷史上看，它們在抵禦中強地震方面表現得很差。

Here's why:

原因如下：

These columns here are usually made of wood and the stories on top might be made of heavier materials like concrete.

這裡的這些柱子通常由木頭製成，頂部的樓層可能由較重的材料製成，例如水泥。

Sometimes the bottom floor has fewer walls than the ones above with sides that may be left open or columns that aren't connected by walls.

有時，底層的牆壁比上面的牆壁少，側面可能是敞開的，或者沒有牆壁連接的柱子。

This means that a soft story is the weakest floor and cannot fully support the heavier ones above it.

這表示軟底層是最脆弱的樓層，不能完全支撐上面重量較重的樓層。

So when an earthquake hits, the structure may shake, until that bottom floor collapses.

因此，當地震發生時，建築物可能會搖晃，直到底層倒塌。

During powerful earthquakes like Turkey and Syria's, the remainder of the building may follow.

在像土耳其和敘利亞這樣的強烈地震期間，建築物的其餘部分可能會隨之崩塌。

This kind of collapse traps people under heavy construction materials making rescue missions even more difficult.

這種倒塌將人們困在沉重的建築材料下，使得救援任務更加困難。

But this is a challenge Turkey has faced before.

但這是土耳其以前就面臨過的挑戰。

A comparable 7.6 earthquake hit Izmit in 1999 and caused over 17,000 deaths.

1999 年，伊茲密特發生了類似的 7.6 級地震，造成 17,000 多人死亡。

It became clear that poor building design and soft stories which made up nearly 90% of building collapses exacerbated the death toll in this disaster.

當時就知曉佔建築倒塌近 90% 的糟糕建築設計和軟底層結構建築加劇了這場災難中的死亡人數。

The aftermath pushed the Turkish government to reintroduce building codes with an emphasis on earthquake safety.

這場災難的後果促使土耳其政府重新引入加強地震安全的建築規範。

But they weren't enforced due to corruption.

但由於當權腐敗，並沒有執行這些建築規範。

And many buildings in Turkey were built too well before 1999, which meant those buildings could only be strengthened retroactively.

而且土耳其的很多建築都是早在 1999 年以前就蓋好了，只能進行加固。

There is a way to keep soft-story buildings intact in the event of an earthquake: retrofitting them with materials that can support the weight of the structure.

有一種方法可以在發生地震時保持軟底層結構建築完好無損，就是用能夠支撐結構重量的材料對其進行改建。

In an ideal scenario, these wooden columns can be replaced or reinforced with steel frames.

在理想情況下，這些木柱可以用鋼架取代或加固。

These open walls can be reinforced too and extra bolts and braces can be drilled into the foundation.

這開放式的牆面也可以加固，額外的螺栓和支架可以鑽入地基。

So if the structure shakes, there's support from that bottom floor.

因此，如果結構搖晃，底層會提供支撐。

A solution like this seem simple, but it's extremely expensive to execute.

像這樣的解決方案看起來很簡單，但執行起來非常昂貴。

According to the World Bank, around 6.7 million residential buildings in Turkey need retrofitting or reconstruction at a cost of $465 billion.

據世界銀行統計，土耳其約有 670 萬棟住宅樓需要改建或重建，需耗資 4650 億美元。

As of 2021, only about 4% of those buildings were transformed.

截至 2021 年，這些建築中只有約 4% 進行了改建。

In fact, retrofitting is an expensive undertaking and nearly impossible, even in countries like the US.

事實上，房屋改建是一項昂貴的工作，幾乎是不可能的，即使在美國這樣的國家也是如此。

Here is every remaining soft-story building in San Francisco that needs reinforcements that would cost billions.

這裡是舊金山所有剩餘的軟底層結構建築，需要花費數十億美元進行加固。

But another problem in Turkey is that construction companies have been cutting corners and ignoring building codes for decades.

但土耳其的另一個問題是，建築公司幾十年來一直在偷工減料，無視建築規範。

And the Turkish government has let their violations slide.

土耳其政府一直以來都放任他們違法的行為。

According to the BBC this post advertised a building that complied with Turkey's latest earthquake safety regulations which emphasizes the use of strong materials.

據 BBC 報導，這篇文章宣傳的一棟建築依照符合土耳其最新的地震安全規定所建造，該規定強調使用堅固的建材。

But the way that same building collapsed suggests it was a soft-story structure.

但該建築倒塌的樣子表明它是一個軟底層結構建築。

Now, Turkey is cracking down on contractors that are allegedly responsible for these collapses.

現在，土耳其正在打擊據稱應對這些倒塌事件負責的承包商。

The scale of this disaster is a result of complex factors,

這場災難的規模是由複雜的因素造成的，

like geography, neighborhoods still reeling from war, and weak buildings.

像是地理問題、仍受戰爭影響的社區和脆弱的建築物。

But what makes this moment particularly harrowing is that while earthquakes along fault lines are inevitable, many of these deaths didn't have to be.

但讓這一場災難特別悲痛的是，雖然斷層線上的地震是不可避免的，但其中許多人的死亡是可以避免的。

Turkey, along with other countries near fault lines are all prone to intense earthquakes.

土耳其和其他靠近斷層線的國家都容易發生強烈地震。

But they won't have to be this deadly if cities enforce codes and treat safe housing as a human right.

但如果每個城市執行法規並將安全住房視為一項人權，這些地震就不會如此致命。