Trinidad "Overdue" for an Earthquake

[Scorpio]

I'm not sure what to make of this, but at least Big Zack can't accuse Dr Latchman of being a nagapat.

http://www.trinidadexpress.com/index...s?id=161582471

UWI seismologist, Dr Joan Latchman said yesterday that Trinidad and Tobago, despite the fact that our fear of major earthquakes may be lulled because we have not had a major shake in decades, is in fact 22 years overdue.

She said a tremor of similar proportions to the one which wrecked Haiti’s capital city of Port-au-Prince just two days ago has been on the cards for over two decades.

And if it does hit, those living in areas like the swampy Beetham Gardens, Laventille hill sides, the reclaimed sea beds in West Trinidad and unplanned squatting communities are those who are most vulnerable to experiencing the worst effects of the brutal shaking that will come along with the earthquake.

This according to a team of seismology experts

[vaio]

I've been hearing this for a while now. Its quite difficult to tell exactly when something like this can happen. We can just hope and pray that it really doesn't happen to us here :|

[Scorpio]

Maybe it is a good time to review emergency plans, inspect school and hospitals buildings for structural weaknesses, and start educating the polulation about what to do during and after a major earthquake.

[Scorpio]

I hope this engineer is wrong....

http://www.newsday.co.tt/news/0,114182.html

Engineer: TT buildings not quake ready
Friday, January 15 2010

BECAUSE of a lack of a uniformly enforced building codes, buildings in Trinidad and Tobago may be at risk of sustaining serious damage and collapse, structural engineer Mark Francois warned yesterday in the wake of the earthquake which struck Haiti on Tuesday.

“As far as the law is concerned there are no legally enforceable codes in Trinidad and Tobago,” Francois, a member of the codes committee of the Association of Professional Engineers said in an interview this week. “But the Ministry of Works has guidelines for what codes they should be implementing. Unless you meet those guidelines, the Ministry of Works should not approve your building.”

But while there is regulation of buildings constructed, he noted that in some cases buildings are constructed which do not meet code requirements. Also some codes may be unsuited to this earthquake zone.

“One of our biggest problems is enforcement supervision during construction to ensure compliance in this respect we are very weak,” he said.

“There are many buildings in Chaguanas, for instance, that are poorly designed in terms of earthquake approvals. I have seen numerous buildings that do not meet code requirements. The Ministry of Works can make recommendations–but one of the problems that I have with the Ministry of Works is enforcement.”

[vaio]

Maybe it is a good time to review emergency plans, inspect school and hospitals buildings for structural weaknesses, and start educating the polulation about what to do during and after a major earthquake.

I agree. I already have my plans for home, we have plans here at work but nationally i don't know how prepared ODPM is :|

[Ali]

vaio you think POS is prepared? o_O

[vaio]

no, not even half the buildings are built to withstand an earthquake :|

You know how ppl keep telling you to stay indoors when an earthquake strikes, well i not too sure about that now...look at those buildings in Haiti

POS will be a great big mess if that happens.....but someone was saying that because of the land movements in south, that may have some kind of resistance for southerners, i dunno...

[Chicabonita]

Sorry but I am not staying inside a building if an earthquake hits.

[Ali]

at home, the safest place for me to go during a quake is the garage.

at work.....under the desk? :?

[vaio]

i'll take my chances in the car park...this building here too old

[trini123]

Trinidad sits on the Caribbean and SA plates. All you can do is pray the fault is very deep. Haiti's was only 6 mi down & doh make a pact wit de devil eh.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caribbean_Plate

[amzz]

Many Haitians must have attempted to leave the building unsuccessfully.
There was an earthquake in Venezuela today.

[snowbird]

I hope this engineer is wrong....

http://www.newsday.co.tt/news/0,114182.html

He really is on to something there......has anyone noticed in all the rubble in the pictures coming out of Haiti that there is a marked absence of ....REBAR http://www.sizes.com/materls/rebar.htm

generally when you see pictures of buildings that have been destroyed, either by fire, flood, explosion, or as in this case earthquake, the debris is always struned with Rebar....sometimes long lengths of steel bars can be seen sitcking out of the broken walls, roofs ect..... if you look at the pitures coming out of Haiti, considering that just about every building is down..... you see very little metal rods sticking out.

Some of you may recall the recent earthquake in China where so many schools collapsed.... again, blamed on the 'building codes'.......built without reinforcing walls....just large expanses of 'brick on brick'.

[Wayne]

I am so concerned about the houses on the hills of Maraval and Santa Cruz......I have friends and family up there.

[Scorpio]

Doh worry wayne, God is still a TRini

[Wayne]

Doh worry wayne, God is still a TRini

Protection of the HIGHEST level...................ent?

[trini123]

From orig quote "Both agreed this country had no country specific building codes and no agency properly enforces laws on building construction in this country and that needs to be rectified.".

You can't easily make a building not designed for earthquake earthquake proof. Actually, it might be impossible.

Doh worry, when it come time to ded yoh go ded and none of us making it alive out of here. So enjoy de time yuh have now.

[Wayne]

Vision 2020..............Trinis should know that First World means, specific building codes enforceing laws on building construction in Trinidad, needs to be rectified.".

[Scorpio]

Trini 123, you are correct you cannot make a building 100% earthquake resistant, but some years ago, I was in Maple House on Maraval Road when an earthquake hit POS, and I was looking out the window at the Tatil building next door literally swaying from side to side , and I thought for sure it was going to fall on Maple House and squash us all.

As it turned out, the Tatil building was designed with a shock absorption system (I don't know the specific engineering terms) that causes it to sway in an earthquake, and actually making it safer and more resistant quakes.

I'm not sure if other buildings in POS have similar systems.

[vaio]

i know the newer building are built like that. When i worked at Central Bank some years ago, an earthquake struck and the building was swaying from side to side...O_o

[mammadon]

The Haiti earthquake was more marked since the country was phenomenally underdeveloped, pre-earthquake. Trinidad as things stand now is nowhere near like what Haiti was pre-earthquake.

I ent no fan of Manning and dey, but I think to some degree they are being pro-active in building hurricane shelters and ting. so at least some plan is in place, should some kind of natural disaster strike the country.

[Scorpio]

I ent no fan of Manning and dey, but I think to some degree they are being pro-active in building hurricane shelters and ting. so at least some plan is in place, should some kind of natural disaster strike the country.

Mammadon, are you talking about the Tsunami Shelter that is being built in Tarouba ?

[vaio]

so can those hurricane shelters as you put it, withstand an earthquake of the magnitude Haiti had?

[snowbird]

Also, are the shelters easily accessible by the bulk of the population. Look at what happened in Haiti. The earthquake hit the main area of the island rendering just about every road impassable. Even help coming in from the other end of the island (from the D.R.) couldn't get through.... a five hour journey by car was taking anywhere up to 12 hours.

so I ask, as these 'shelters' going to be accessible in the event of a disaster? Would people be able to walk to them? if the roads are out, and most of the vehicles are destroyed?....No, just like Haiti, everyone will be sleeping in the ....savannah.

[ebony02]

Trinidad and Tobago may need something like this to get its "wake up call".

Unfortunately I highly doubt the USA would come to TT's aid to the extent that we have seen with Haiti.