Around 1,200 schools in the country are built near seismic fault lines and lack the necessary conditions to remain intact during strong earthquakes.
SANTO DOMINGO.- The Dominican Republic has “vulnerabilities” in the application of the Dominican Seismic Code when carrying out constructions of any type, especially those that were built before 2011 when the protocols were updated to improve their safety.
“When engineer Reyes Madera refers to the existence of 1,200 educational facilities with seismic vulnerability, he is referring to the history of school construction in the Dominican Republic. The first seismic code was in 1978 and it was updated in 2011,” explained Diego Bautista, director of risk management at the Ministry of Education of the Dominican Republic (Minerd).
He specified that the vast majority of those schools were built during that period and the standard has been applied since then, but there are major vulnerabilities that cannot be ignored.
Around 1,200 schools in the country are built near seismic fault lines and lack the necessary conditions to remain intact during strong earthquakes, the director general of the National Office of Seismic Evaluation and Vulnerability of Infrastructure and Buildings (Onesvie) told Listín Diario.
Leonardo de Jesús Reyes Madera explained that these educational centers are located approximately five kilometers up or down from these faults and that they are located within the area covered by a seismic fault, around 5,000 meters on either side represents the vulnerability and this country has 14 seismic faults.
He explained that there are agreements between several institutions to improve this problem in the country and that a symposium will be held in Puerto Plata regarding an earthquake that occurred in that province 19 years ago.
“There is a proposal between Onesivie and the Minerd, there is an inter-institutional agreement that was signed, so that Onesivie can carry out the evaluations and in search of improvement carry out the interventions, this process takes some time, although the evaluations have been carried out, from the department we also carry out, on the 23rd we will break ground on the seismic safe school,” said Bautista.
Classification of groups according to Seismic Code
Article 22 of the current "Regulation for the Seismic Analysis and Design of Structures" R-001 of the Dominican Republic, of the Ministry of Public Works and Communications (MOPC), of 2011, classifies buildings into various groups, within the categories of those that must avoid severe failures in an event, with schools and colleges corresponding to group three of special occupancy buildings.
"Buildings that must be kept in operation immediately after the occurrence of a severe earthquake, such as: hospitals with 50 or more beds; public buildings not included in group one: schools, colleges or educational centers; buildings and equipment in power generation facilities and any other building that houses more than 3,000 people at the same time: sports stadiums, convention centers, among others," the document states.
Group one includes buildings whose functions are essential to society and which, therefore, should not suffer structural or other damage that would make them inoperable in the event of an extreme earthquake: hospitals with surgeries and emergency care; buildings and equipment of telephone stations, communications, fire stations, and other facilities necessary to respond to an emergency.
In addition, buildings that serve to preserve public order and national security, such as: Armed Forces, National Police and Government Offices with the seat of the President, Governors, Trustees and Legislative Chambers; as well as water storage tanks and buildings that store essential products.
Group two comprises hazardous buildings and facilities, specifically those that produce, store, or handle chemical substances and materials, toxic gases, and explosives, the failure of which could endanger other buildings. These buildings must not suffer damage to their structural and non-structural elements during an extreme earthquake, thus ensuring the integrity of the facility or building and the protection of the population and the environment.
Buildings of normal occupancy are in group four, those that can tolerate structural damage that makes them inoperable as a result of a severe earthquake, without reaching partial collapse or collapse, such as: banks, hotels, office buildings,
family apartments, public buildings and restaurants, not included in Groups I, II and III.
Group five includes structures whose collapse does not cause damage to other structures or result in loss of human life, such as: warehouses for non-toxic products, temporary buildings for construction, among others
