many buildings in SD will not withstand large earthquake

[dv8]

in news that is surprising to no one, the seismic experts say that many buildings in great SD were constructed without any consultation with engineers/architects and therefore they are more prone to fail during the earthquake.
http://www.diariolibre.com/noticias...os-se-hicieron-sin-aval-de-expertos-KJ3874815

 

[jimmythegreek]

in news that is surprising to no one, the seismic experts say that many buildings in great SD were constructed without any consultation with engineers/architects and therefore they are more prone to fail during the earthquake.
http://www.diariolibre.com/noticias...os-se-hicieron-sin-aval-de-expertos-KJ3874815

This is my highest concern here being a property owner. Earthquakes are the variable that seem to be the greatest hazard even over hurricanes-unless Cat 4-5. I think there isn't much we can do, but just hope there isn't a big one like what happened in Haiti back in 2010.

 

[Cdn_Gringo]

To be honest, I am an obsessively practical person. I am the type to sit and have a beer while I figure out if I really need to cross the street. In my twenties, I lived on the 25th floor of a modern apartment building in Ottawa. After a year, I had to move. I could never get comfortable with the idea of being perched that high off the ground. I knew that if the power failed, I had a long climb and I wouldn't have water pressure for very long. The view was nice but did not offset the obvious drawbacks. Obviously the fire dept. didn't have equipment that could reach my apartment from the street.

In a third world country where I know construction standards if they exist are often ignored in favor of a cheapest is best mentality, I would never consider living in a tall apartment building here. It only goes to reason that many won't survive a major shake, the fire dept if they arrive in time cannot reach you unless they use the stairs and if you live on the lower floors, you may well get the opportunity to meet all your neighbors when they "drop in" as the building collapses. Nadie parece preocuparse por el ma?ana.

We all weigh the risks and consider the odds. With respect to buildings that rise more than a floor or two off the ground, if you have to spend any significant time in one, then you have to assume that there is a better than average chance that building will not withstand a big shake or the subsequent aftershocks. The older the building, the worse it may well be.

We all know it's coming, one day...

 

[Mauricio]

The older the building, the worse it may well be.

Im not so sure about the older the worse. Some engineers claim that in times of Balaguer buildings were made better than many are now.

Im happy to be living in a 2 story house. apparently well build. What I do want to fix is the fact that if we are all upstairs and a fire would break out on the first floor, there is no way to escape. metal bars on all windows. Recently in a house I viewed I saw a escape door in the metal bars structure, apparently a requisite of the US Embassy...need to get that.

 

[ju10prd]

This is my highest concern here being a property owner. Earthquakes are the variable that seem to be the greatest hazard even over hurricanes-unless Cat 4-5. I think there isn't much we can do, but just hope there isn't a big one like what happened in Haiti back in 2010.

A major hurricane should likely only affect parts of a building with failure of external doors and windows and perhaps roof structure and fixtures. A significant earthquake on the other hand affects the whole structure and if the foundations, structural connections between vertical and horizontal elements and shear walls are lacking then structural damage is inevitable which could be difficult to repair. Add to that the structural seismic design codes in DR were updated taking into account findings after the Haiti earthquake and as is reported many buildings still are built without proper checks.

The only good thing that large areas of Santo Domingo have going for them is that most buildings are founded on rock and that helps with seismic shocks.

Back to the insurance issue of another thread, a responsible developer of a sizable project will involve an insurance assessor, often as insisted by the funding organization, from the earliest design stages through construction to ensure the engineering of the building is undertaken to the necessary standards, and high standards result in future lower insurance premiums for the development during use for the development owner(s). Cowboy developers using dubious funding may have skipped this stage and passed the risk on to owner occupiers.

Yep earthquakes do worry me too and having just been trough relocating to new rental property, my engineering design knowledge made me look at the construction of the rental options. I walked away from a few new apartment blocks in the Bella Vista seeing wondering about the design. In Santiago I would be doubly cautious.

 

[ju10prd]

Im not so sure about the older the worse. Some engineers claim that in times of Balaguer buildings were made better than many are now.

Im happy to be living in a 2 story house. apparently well build. What I do want to fix is the fact that if we are all upstairs and a fire would break out on the first floor, there is no way to escape. metal bars on all windows. Recently in a house I viewed I saw a escape door in the metal bars structure, apparently a requisite of the US Embassy...need to get that.

Yes I am sure you are correct there.

 

[Cdn_Gringo]

For sure. It's like deadbolts here. In my current house, all of the deadbolts required a key on the inside to unlock them. That was the second thing I changed when I moved in. The problem I had was that with a key inserted into the deadbolt on the inside, a key couldn't be inserted on the outside to gain entry. Panicked people gasping for breath shouldn't have to find a key on a string to manipulate a lock to get out.

It must be possible for at least one set of metal bars in each room to be opened from the inside if the need arises. Not a good idea to be trapped by your own security measures.

 

[ju10prd]

For sure. It's like deadbolts here. In my current house, all of the deadbolts required a key on the inside to unlock them. That was the second thing I changed when I moved in. The problem I had was that with a key inserted into the deadbolt on the inside, a key couldn't be inserted on the outside to gain entry. Panicked people gasping for breath shouldn't have to find a key on a string to manipulate a lock to get out.

It must be possible for at least one set of metal bars in each room to be opened from the inside if the need arises. Not a good idea to be trapped by your own security measures.

I recall the early morning 5.2 quake a few years back one January (4th?) morning. It lasted about 20 seconds and was a good shake and about 40km from where I was living as the crow flies. I couldn't get to the outside because of all the security locks in those 20 seconds and I was up on the first shake.

 

[dv8]

when i read the article i was under the impression it referred to buildings in SD in general, not specifically high-rises.

 

[ju10prd]

The study referred to in the link in the opening post is an ongoing one into seismic threat and vulnerability faced by Greater Santo Domingo (it extends to San Cristobel as I read it) with the following stated objective:

Contribute with seismic risk reduction through the generation of studies on the seismic hazard and the physical vulnerability of the city of Santo Domingo, and as a result of this knowledge, strengthen the capacities of institutions of government aimed at the regulation of the sector of the construction, risk management and disaster response, and the management of land, in order to increase the resilience and urban population, minimizing the loss of life, material goods and economic compared to seismic events

http://www.do.undp.org/content/domi...smica-y-vulnerabilidad-fisica-del-gran-s.html

An article in Hoy perhaps gives one a better understanding of the interim report given this week.:

http://hoy.com.do/presentan-avances...vulnerabilidad-fisica-del-gran-santo-domingo/

Translated as....

Representatives of the project "Study of the seismic hazard and physical vulnerability of the great Santo Domingo" unveiled today the advances of geological, structural studies and vulnerability of the San Crist?bal province and the National District carried out in municipalities four municipalities of the province of Santo Domingo, three. This project is implemented by the national geological service (SGN) with the support of the United Nations programme for development (UNDP), and the main financing of the European Union.

Research will improve the knowledge about the seismic threat and will help to identify the seismic vulnerability of the area, which would serve to improve urban planning and establishing public policies that contribute to the reduction of the seismic risk.

Specialists of the project showed geological maps that serve as a basis for the process of seismic microzonation of the great Santo Domingo, advances in the study of physical vulnerability of an area of the great Santo Domingo and the advances in the study of physical vulnerability of 23 governmental strategic buildings to determine if they are able to be operative in cases of severe seismic events.

To participate in the traditional lunch weekly for the Group of communications Corripio, Santiago Mu?oz, director of the national geological survey, explained that most of the projects have a focus on emergency and this initiative aims to turn the tide.

"We must work on prevention and prevention begins with the forecast, that the implementation of these studies helps us to understand the situation in which the city and its surrounding areas; and they are a very valuable input to land use planning and urban planning that develop local councils. Based on the results, may be strategic lines of action in short, medium and long term, that will reduce the seismic vulnerability of the great Santo Domingo", he said.

Mu?oz was accompanied in the meeting, Alberto Navarro, Ambassador-Head of the delegation of the European Union; Ana Mar?a P?rez, for the risk management of UNDP; Miguel Llorente Isidro, head of the unit of Galicia of the Geological Institute and mining of Spain (IGME), among others.


The report of 90% of all buildings in Santo Domingo as being at risk in a large seismic event, was I believe reported earlier this year and linked in an earlier thread.......and I believe came from CODIA ( http://www.codia.org.do/ )

The study group mentioned have been studying 23 municipal buildings as reported above, so municipal buildings may not be up to scratch.

If you live in a building that was funded by one of the banks or other international financial organization or indeed use the many new Malls, you can feel pretty sure that they had independent engineers checking the design and construction of the development. If it is a private developer with private rather than corporate money, then he might be willing to bend the rules for short term gain. It appears clear that government building controls are infrequently observed.

As for the private individual, building or extending on his plot, anything goes and his 'maestro' 'does' probably the design....good luck.

 

[Kipling333]

Same story for years and yet since the time of the Spanish colonisation , the worst thing that happens to the buildings is the attack by termites . God knows how many hurricanes and earthquakes my centuries old home has had ..it has survived all the earthquakes and I feel confident that will stay upright much longer than I ..

 

[the gorgon]

Same story for years and yet since the time of the Spanish colonisation , the worst thing that happens to the buildings is the attack by termites . God knows how many hurricanes and earthquakes my centuries old home has had ..it has survived all the earthquakes and I feel confident that will stay upright much longer than I ..

so, Kipling, do tell us how potent these earthquakes have been. tell us about the numbers they registered on the richter scale....

 

[CristoRey]

Just Santo Domingo? There may be more buildings that were constructed in the capital
to cut cost and therefor prone to serious damage in the event of an earthquake but I think this
problem is systemic across the entire country. One need look no further than the office I am
sitting in now as I type aranoid: to understand this.

 

[ju10prd]

Same story for years and yet since the time of the Spanish colonisation , the worst thing that happens to the buildings is the attack by termites . God knows how many hurricanes and earthquakes my centuries old home has had ..it has survived all the earthquakes and I feel confident that will stay upright much longer than I ..

http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v463/n7283/fig_tab/463878a_F2.html

Just click on the link showing significant Hispaniola earthquakes over several centuries and note that Haiti 2010 was a smaller one.....overdue?..... yes unfortunately but maybe at our tender age we will miss it...but again.....

 

[Kipling333]

SEnor Gorgan as usual,you want someone else to do your homework but I have no reason to suspect that earthquakes over the past 200 or 300 years have differed in pattern than is the case now.. Maybe I will be proven wrong and one day in the next 200 years Santo Domingo will have a good quake .. but why not over the years since the Spanish came here.. there is no history that I have read of any devestation by earthquake and looking at the walls around the old city they look fine ..and modern materials are stronger . maybe you can find something to prove me wrong .

 

[dv8]

Same story for years and yet since the time of the Spanish colonisation , the worst thing that happens to the buildings is the attack by termites . God knows how many hurricanes and earthquakes my centuries old home has had ..it has survived all the earthquakes and I feel confident that will stay upright much longer than I ..

the original santiago de los caballeros was destroyed by the earthquake almost as soon as it was built. just saying.

 

[the gorgon]

SEnor Gorgan as usual,you want someone else to do your homework but I have no reason to suspect that earthquakes over the past 200 or 300 years have differed in pattern than is the case now.. Maybe I will be proven wrong and one day in the next 200 years Santo Domingo will have a good quake .. but why not over the years since the Spanish came here.. there is no history that I have read of any devestation by earthquake and looking at the walls around the old city they look fine ..and modern materials are stronger . maybe you can find something to prove me wrong .

actually, i do not want you to do anything besides checking your facts before shooting your mouth off. if you do not know something, be quiet. not because there has been no really bad earthquake in the past means one can never come.

 

[Kipling333]

the original santiago de los caballeros was destroyed by the earthquake almost as soon as it was built. just saying.

sorry ..I thought we were talking about Santo Domingo...my error

 

[bob saunders]

Im not so sure about the older the worse. Some engineers claim that in times of Balaguer buildings were made better than many are now.

Im happy to be living in a 2 story house. apparently well build. What I do want to fix is the fact that if we are all upstairs and a fire would break out on the first floor, there is no way to escape. metal bars on all windows. Recently in a house I viewed I saw a escape door in the metal bars structure, apparently a requisite of the US Embassy...need to get that.

I have an escape door on my balcony and outside stairs as well. I watched both the construction of this house and our new school. Architect planed and built house with lots of rebar used, School architect planed and built by our contractor. Not as perfect as I'd like but definitely solid.

 

[popeye]

man people here like to argue about the simplest topics