Lebanon construction code did not mitigate earthquake hazards untill 5 years ago..

The importance of building codes was made evident in the weeks following the earthquakes in Haiti and Chile. NOW’s Sarah Lynch reports on what Lebanon is doing about safety.

The disastrous earthquakes that recently shook Haiti and Chile came without warning. But their outcomes might lead one to believe otherwise. While Chile saw an earthquake 800 times stronger than that in Haiti, the damage was significantly less—something experts attribute to Haiti’s poor infrastructure.

In the weeks following those quakes, concern over preventative safety measures in Lebanon has heightened. And not a moment too soon.

In 551 AD, Lebanon saw a cataclysmic earthquake that produced a tsunami and destroyed the country’s coastal cities. According to Geologist Dr. Ali Haidar, the earthquake cycle of that fault line, hidden beneath the Mediterranean, is every 1,500 years. This suggests that Lebanon is due for another quake in 2061. In reality, however, earthquakes are impossible to predict.

“Earthquakes do not come regularly on time—luckily,” Haidar said. “Typically it is 50 or 250 years plus or minus, and sometimes it’s even more than that.”

To help prevent destruction if a devastating event like this is to occur again, the Lebanese government implemented Decree 14293 in March 2005. The law has three main targets, said Ziad Akl, president of the Safe Building Alliance. It sets a specific framework for constructing buildings, with earthquakes and fire-related injuries in mind, as well as for building safer lifts.

But implementation is difficult. Akl estimates that only 60 percent of new homes in Lebanon follow the legally stipulated safety measures. Adding to that is the problem of old buildings. “No one comes from the government and does inspections for old buildings,” Akl said.

The dangers of this are imminent. Even construction giant Solidere is stepping up measures to ensure safety, said Dr. Mohamed Harajli, a professor of Civil Engineering at the American University of Beirut. They are rea****sing seismic hazard, which is the amount of shaking the earth experiences during an earthquake. If seismic hazard increases in an area, so do the costs of constructing buildings with preventative measures.

But even if new codes are implemented when an earthquake occurs, buildings will still incur damage. “There will be damage, but the main concern is that they don’t collapse,” Harajli said.

If an earthquake of magnitude 6.3 to 6.5 hits Lebanon, the country’s buildings will survive, according to Harajli. Above 6.5, however, is cause for worry. He predicts that 30 to 35 percent of buildings in Beirut will experience minor to heavy damage in this case. “Collapse?” he says. “God knows.”
http://www.nowlebanon.com/NewsArchiveDetails.aspx?ID=151313

Its a known fact that Lebanon's construction is not prepared to resist more shocks. I personally find it rediculous how the government's solution is just to implement the new codes and laws starting 2005. what about the 95% of the buildings that are already there. We should raise awareness on what is called "retrofitting" which is a structural term to modify existing building structures to be more efficient.