President Leonel Fernandez has ordered the Ministry of Public Works to take action in the town of Sanchez in the province of Samana. Several houses in the town have collapsed causing major concern to the community. Juan Payero, director of the seismology institute at the state university UASD, explained that the problems are mainly due to sub-standard construction in areas over subterranean waters. He explained that recent rains have worsened a situation that was already in the making. The residents will have to be relocated. Sanchez is a town where early 20th century wooden houses have been replaced with concrete homes in many of the affected areas. The concrete homes, however, were not built with adequate foundations or with sufficient reinforced beams to sustain the ground deficiencies.