SANTO DOMINGO– In response to the recent seismic events recorded in various countries of the region, the National Office for Seismic Evaluation and Vulnerability of Infrastructure and Buildings (Onesvie) reported that it has redoubled its preventive efforts focused on the evaluation of buildings, infrastructure, and lifelines, with the aim of reducing the vulnerability of strategic infrastructure and expanding the country's response capabilities in the event of a major earthquake.
As part of this strategy, the institution highlighted that it has carried out 4,178 technical evaluations nationwide, comprising 3,345 buildings and 833 bridges, generating specialized information to understand the conditions of the structures, identify possible vulnerabilities and establish intervention priorities.
The general director of Onesvie, engineer Leonardo de Jesús Reyes Madera, explained that the earthquakes recorded in Venezuela on June 24 and the recent event in Colombia serve as a reminder of the importance of maintaining constant vigilance over the conditions of buildings, infrastructure, and lifelines.
"No country in the world can consider itself fully prepared to face an earthquake. Precisely for this reason, prevention must be an ongoing task. We shouldn't wait for an earthquake to happen to start preparing," Reyes Madera stated.
Public and private buildings
ONESVIE indicates that the assessments carried out include public and private buildings, covering the National District and all 31 provinces of the country. Of the 3,345 buildings assessed, 2,853 belong to the public sector and 492 to the private sector.
The structures evaluated include health facilities, educational centers, government buildings, security facilities, fire stations, public services, administrative, institutional and community facilities, housing and universities, among others.
Regarding road infrastructure, the institution has assessed 833 bridges in various provinces across the country, given their importance in ensuring connectivity and mobility for communities. These inspections allow for understanding their condition, identifying potential vulnerabilities, and providing technical information to guide prevention, maintenance, or intervention efforts when necessary.
Reyes Madera emphasized that technical assessments generate information that serves as a basis for guiding maintenance, rehabilitation, and reinforcement efforts when needed. "It is necessary to evaluate and reinforce, when required, buildings that house essential services, such as schools and hospitals, as well as other strategic infrastructure in the country," he stated.
He also called on the population to become familiar with the conditions of the buildings where they live and work and to seek the corresponding technical evaluations, so that possible vulnerabilities can be identified and intervention measures adopted.
I explained that the collapses recorded in different buildings across the country, even without an earthquake, demonstrate the importance of continuing to strengthen assessment, maintenance, and prevention efforts, with a view to detecting significant vulnerabilities and being able to correct them
Similarly, the institution continues to strengthen the Dominican Network of Structural Evaluators (REED), which currently has 950 professionals certified by the National School of Risk Management (ESNAGERI), thus expanding the country's technical capacity to identify and determine the vulnerability of buildings before an earthquake and, after an event, to help establish which structures can continue to be inhabited and which require intervention, reinforcement or demolition.
The entity assured that it will continue to expand technical assessments in the national territory, strengthening specialized training and developing prevention and preparedness actions, as part of the Dominican Government's efforts to reduce seismic vulnerability, protect essential infrastructure and strengthen the country's resilience.
