evidence: A pair of severe earthquakes of magnitudes 7.8 and 7.5 struck southern Turkey and northern Syria on February 6, leaving over 40,000 people dead and unknown numbers injured or displaced. [...] "Buildings that fail during earthquakes are often made of materials that are too brittle, such as concrete and masonry, without adequate reinforcement," Kaklamanos explained. [...] "Many of the buildings that collapsed in Turkey and Syria appear to be constructed of reinforced concrete, but the amount of reinforcing steel was likely insufficient to handle the loads from the earthquake," he said.