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View Full Version : Earthquake contingency plan for DR



NewsWhore
01-26-2010, 04:00 PM
General Juan Manuel Mendez says the country has a contingency plan for a major earthquake, but lacks the equipment for search and rescue operations, especially in the case of collapsed buildings. The plan was published in November 2008, after it was prepared together with the US Southern Command. He said that only the firefighters in Santo Domingo have search and rescue tools for collapsed buildings. Nevertheless he said: "For an event of the kind that occurred in Haiti, there is no country that can be prepared, and much less countries like ours that have economic limitations."
Geologist Juan Alberto Chalas said on Uno+Uno TV show that the Septentrional Fault, in central Cibao makes this most vulnerable region that is most at risk of a major earthquake. He said that the cities with the highest risk are Santiago, Puerto Plata, Navarrete, La Vega, Moca, Nagua, Montecristi, San Francisco de Macoris and Samana.
Seismologist engineer Rafael Corominas Pepin confirms that a 7.5 magnitude earthquake is due along the Septentrional Fault. He says an earthquake has not happened along this fault in 700 years. He advocates a national program to strengthen public structures, such as public schools and hospitals, especially in the high-risk cities in the Cibao. Furthermore, he said that construction should be banned from areas subject to flooding that are in earthquake risk areas.

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