SANTIAGO. The priority of Santiago and the region as preventive measures, given the possibility of an earthquake of major proportions, begins with the creation of a plan of zoning of the area, an educational program, the supervision of constructions, soils studies and resources aimed at the systematic study of the geological fault lines.
In the opinion of Osiris de Leon, the zoning of the area should be supported by project of seismic micro-zoning throughout the area, and the application of an educational program in the schools and preparations in the hospitals.
These ideas were expressed by Osiris de Leon, a geological engineer and the coordinator of the Natural Sciences and Environmental Committee of the Academy of Science. He explained that the faults in the Cibao region-the Septentrional, Española, Bonao, the one near Camu-have the potential to produce an earthquake at any moment and the clay-like soils of the Cibao have the characteristic of amplifying the effects of any movement.
De Leon proposes that the territorial zoning should be accompanied by a study of seismic micro-zoning, and in this way apply an educational program that would offer the course "Seismic Risks and Natural Disasters" in the school curriculum. In addition, he suggested special classes for hospitals in the area.
"If we educate the children on these issues, they are going to learn to act by reflex, to identify in their schools, in the living room, the kitchen, or the bathroom of their homes, the safest places to be in case of an earthquake. If the people are in a vehicle, they will know that it is better to stop on the right, to stay inside the car, to not get under high tension lines that could collapse, to not stand next to a building that could fall down, to not take an elevator, not go running out of the house."
The geologist also proposed the inspection of the large scale projects such as the dams: "If an earthquake occurs near the Tavera Dam or the one in Dajao or the one in Hatillo, it could break". Because of this, and without being alarmist, he suggested that all of the sectors of society get together in order to prevent and avoid what happened in Haiti, where even the state office buildings, such as the Presidential Palace, the Congress and the Palace of Justice all collapsed.
Engineer de Leon said he felt that one of the greatest problems is to build without taking into consideration the soil composition. This is the situation of several schools and buildings that have been built without a proper study of the soils, he said.
The buildings at highest risk are the tall ones that are built on sandy and humid soils, that have parking on the ground floor, that are raised up on columns without walls to absorb the sharp effects of an earthquake.
The well-know geologist criticized several government officials that ignore the warnings, downplaying the scientific reports and underestimating the risks, instead of contributing to the consciousness of the population with regard to seismic events.
Warning
The forecast of a possible large scale seismic event has been given by scientists from the United States that have studied the Caribbean faults, among them, Professor Eric Calais, a geophysicist at Perdue University, Paul Mann, a scientific investigator at the University of Texas and Ross Stein of the United States Geological Survey, whose warnings were recently published in the New York Times.
Fuente: Diario Libre
