Vulnerability of High-Rises in Eastern Cuba Probed

Experts from the Santiago de Cuba-based National Center of Seismological Research (Cenais is the Spanish acronym) are developing a forecast on the vulnerability of high-rises in that city, as well as in Guantánamo and Holguín. Doctor Fernando Guasch explained that such studies include 13 buildings of that kind in this city, which features the highest risk level in terms of earthquakes in Cuba, and properties in the other two territories, with the possibility of reaching Camagüey.

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The specialist referred to the cities all over the world as critical risk sceneries, particularly those based in underdeveloped or developing nations, because of the overpopulation, overcrowding and other elements that entail intrinsic or acquired vulnerability.

The expert pointed out that the problem is not related to the height of the buildings, but to the place where they are built, the quality of the work done and the materials used, as well as the appropriate and systematic maintenance of such structures.

Since its foundation back in 1992, Cenais has become an institution that does research and alerts on the seismic behavior of the Cuban archipelago, where 28 destructive telluric movements have been reported, 20 of which took place in this eastern province.

Upon analyzing the present situation of this city, compared to the latest significant earthquake back in February 1932, the growth of its population with notable population density and the extension of the urban structure represent new challenges when it comes to facing disasters.

The threat or peril, vulnerability and risk, are the categories studied by the researchers from that institution, who drew up in 2012 a new seismic dangerousness map linked to the horizontal spectral maximum acceleration of the terrain.

This map, conceived for short and long periods, represents a qualitative jeopardy assessment with probabilistic criteria.