Reminder: DR is likely to experience 7.0 quake
The president of the Dominican Society of Seismic Engineering and Seismology, Leonardo Reyes Madera, recently warned of the vulnerability of the country in the face of an eventual earthquake. He based his statements on the apparent “fragility” of the overall preparedness of schools and hospitals.
Engineer Reyes noted that the island of Hispaniola that is shared by Haiti and the Dominican Republic could suffer at any time a magnitude 7.0 or greater earthquake possibly followed by a tsunami with waves between seven and nine meters high.
Reyes Madera made the remarks to the international press here on a visit sponsored by the European Commission on Humanitarian Assistance (Echo). The visitors were shown diverse disaster risk reduction projects underway and different aspects of assistance and prevention programs.
Reyes highlighted the 14 geological fault lines that are currently active on the island and surrounding seabed. He said the two main faults that could cause a major earthquake are: Enriquillo that extends across the southern part of the island and into the Caribbean and the Septentrional del Este that extends from East to West across the northern part of the country.
The geological expert said that a sample taken from the Index of Hospital Safety shows that 84 of the 184 public hospitals of the country do not comply with the requisites required to obtain the certificate of “Safe Hospital.” He noted that the problems are not necessarily structural but rather deficiencies that would appear in the basic services required to attend patients, for example, water, electricity and logistics.
Source: DR1, 7dias
Feb 20, 2018
Category: DR News |