Turkish firm Karmod built 13,600 prefabricated homes for quake-hit regions

ISTANBUL

Turkish building manufacturer Karmod has constructed 13,600 prefabricated homes for southern and central Türkiye, which were hit hard by twin earthquakes a year ago this week.

Mehmet Cankaya, Karmod’s chairman, said they have been planning construction in 11 quake-struck provinces in an area of more than 200,000 square meters (2.15 million square feet).

Cankaya noted that the structures built in the region include earthquake containers, prefabricated steel houses, commercial shops, chain markets, steel system mosques, schools, bathrooms, and shower cabins.

He said they have been working with more than 20 teams in the region since the first week after the quakes, which struck last Feb. 6.

"We completed the construction of chain stores in 40 different places," said Cankaya, noting that they focused intensively on the provinces of Hatay, Kahramanmaras, Adiyaman, Malatya and Osmaniye.

"We deployed over 6,000 earthquake containers to container cities. We installed 350 permanent prefabricated steel houses, ready for occupancy. We built 1,200 independent commercial shops with our prefabricated building model," he added.

On Feb. 6, 2023, twin earthquakes devastated 11 Turkish provinces, causing thousands of deaths.