Are buildings in Syria resistant to earthquakes? How far can you resist? Questions are beginning to be asked in Syria, where some people regain the scenes of those who hastily left their homes to spread the streets, fearing the earthquake.
About twenty years ago, the phones were ringing late, and people were asking their relatives to vacate the houses and head to the Corniche, which was overwhelmed with security seekers fleeing a rumor that was warning of an earthquake. For earthquakes?
Most buildings in Syria are not earthquake-proof, and some, as in informal settlement areas, will collapse in the event of an earthquake, says Essam Melhem, a researcher at the Syrian Baath University.
Melhem, a member of the Syrian Building Design Committee, in an interview with RT, confirms that there are many conditions for the building to be earthquake-proof and not applied in Syria, and he adds that there is a seismic map of the world showing the countries where earthquakes can occur.
Since there are data that say that the region witnesses a devastating earthquake every 250 to 300 years, and the last earthquake occurred in 1959, we are part of the seismic cycle, and this requires no recklessness.
Building placement
It is possible to talk about two main stages in Syria for the design of buildings, the watershed alone is in 1995, when the design requirements for earthquake-resistant buildings were started. Oil refineries, while residential buildings, hotels, and many projects were built without these studies. Rather, earthquake-resistant buildings were not taught in universities.
After 1995, it became obligatory for each building to exceed the number of its four layers to be thoughtful and earthquake-proof.
However, in practice, it can be said that, as a result of many reasons, such as the engineering system, the municipal system, and the method of monitoring construction and its implementation, there is no actual commitment to that, especially since there are no specialized engineering companies with the exception of state companies.
Through my observations, Melhem says: “I see what is scary, there will be an urban and humanitarian catastrophe, because our facilities were not subject to the required technical supervision .. If we toured the facilities and asked any contractor to show the documents of quality control tests, the result will be zero.
The cost of resistant construction
We ask Melhem about the difference in cost between a construction that is resistant and non-resistant, and he says that the difference is not large, and the increase can reach 15%.
on paper
Melhem summarizes the situation of buildings by saying: Most of what was built before 1995 is not resistant to earthquakes, including projects implemented by the private sector and even government buildings, residential or commercial all, and excludes some facilities with private use, and these constitute only 10% of the facilities.
But after that date, Melhem indicates that the Engineers Syndicate does not authorize a building if it is not designed against earthquakes, but the question: Are these buildings implemented according to the plans? All buildings on paper are thought out and designed to resist earthquakes, but in terms of quality control and specifications, this can only be known by testing.
If the focus of the discussion above is on regular buildings, then the situation with random housing, or the opposite housing, becomes more dangerous.
Source: RT
