Earthquake Risk in Santo DomingoThe Role of the Dominican Government

The Problem

Increased construction in the city of Santo Domingo impacts the city’s urban earthquake risk, and there are steps that should be followed by the Dominican Government to mitigate them. Also, the construction companies should collaborate to improve urban earthquake safety.

Seismic Risk in Santo Domingo

THE SANTO DOMINGO AREA IS HIGHLIGHTED IN RED. ZONE 1 IS OF GREATER SEISMIC RISK THAN ZONE

2, WHERE SANTO DOMINGO IS LOCATED.

THE DATA USED FOR THIS MAP IS OUTDATED, SO IT MAY NOT BE COMPLETELY ACCURATE.

• May 11th, 1910: A strong earthquake hits the island, causing damage in Barahona,Baní, San

Cristobal y Azua and Santo Domingo.

• October 6th, 1911: An earthquake of 7.0 of the Richter scale with its epicenter in the Cordillera

Central between the river Yaque del Sur and Artibonito. Aftershocks were felt for long

periods of time and damages were obvious in the entire zone.

• October 11th, 1915: Strong earthquake shakes the east part of the country with an intensity of

56.2 in the Richter scale.

• April 24th, 1916: Strong earthquake of 7.2 intensity strikes the country. Cracks in the earth

scares the population.

• October 11th, 1918: Earthquake of 7.5 shakes Puerto Rico and Hispaniola, damaging the

oriental provinces.

Seismic History in Dominican Republic

August 4th, 1946: Devastating earthquake with its epicentre in the Bahia Escocesa of Dominican Republic and an intensity of 8.1 hits the island

and produces a tsunami, which caused structural damages in Puerto Plata, San

Francisco de Macoris, Salcedo, Moca, La Vega, Santiago, San Pedro de Macoris, Monte Plata,

and Santo Domingo.

January 8th, 1962: Earthquake of 6.5 intensity causes great damages in Santo Domingo, San

Jose de Ocoa, Azua, Banica, Bani, and San Cristobal.

July 11th, 1971: Seismic movement of 6.1 intensity strikes the island and cuases great

damages in Santo Domingo.

March 23rd, 1979: Seismic movement of 6.1 intensity strikes the island and causes damages in San Pedro de Macoris, La Romana. and Santo

Domingo.

June 24th, 1984: An earthquake of 6.7 intensity is felt in the whole island and damages La

Romana, Higuey, Los Llanos, Bayaguana, and Santo Domingo.

Although this slide shows only the major earthquakes that have struck the country in the last 100 years, it does not mean that we do not

experience earthquakes everyday. An earthquake happens on an average 10 times a

month.

What are Other Cities Doing?(Taking Examples from Other Cities)

• Seattle is...

• using valves to be able to lock some water tanks so that broken pipes dont

completly drain the tank.

• installing tougher pipe lines

• installing state-of-the-art communication systems so that fire

men and other emergency teams to be able to communicate faster

• providing emergency power for community centers around the city

• having emergency supplies to give citizens in case of emergency

• making police offices as seismically secure as possible 

• adopting new building codes

• giving earthquake safety class

Tokyo is ...

trying to make the police save the victims and lead to a safe place, look for the missing people and

control the traffic.

Planning what people are going to do in times of problems

Talking to families and neighbors about evacuation plans

and if they are willing to help

Organizing and buying everything they need in a problem or disaster

Helping all the disabled people in the area

Warning people about appropriate behavior, like being calm

Teaching adequate ways of evacuating places

Training police officers to send victims to access roads

San Francisco is...

- reconstructing buildings to enhance earthquake safety 

- Since liquefaction happens in San Francisco, they are creating maps to show areas of potential

liquefaction. (Liquefaction Susceptibility Maps)

-Since liquefaction happens in San Francisco, they are also creating liquefaction hazard

maps.-Roads have also been closed

due to earthquakes on 18 different faults. This shows that there are  potential future traffic

problems.-they have websites like

http://quake.abag.ca.gov/ that give information on precautions that

you should take for en earthquake emergency.

San Francisco also recommends that households…

Bolt big pieces of furniture to the wall

use blankets and flaresHave an emergency plan,

especially for childrenHave kits of safety equipment

are prepared to help with earthquake safety

What is the Dominican Republic doing about Earthquake Risk?

• One of the only things that the Dominican government is doing to protect its citizens is having Building Codes. The ‘Building Codes’ is a document that states how to construct buildings in certain types

of ground. However, these codes are not very accurate due to the fact that they fail to be specific and are very vague.The data used is also outdated, due to the fact that it was approved in the year 1979.

There were some important points such as the objectives of the research, site requirements, or near fault requirements that were not answered nor taken in consideration. Therefore, substantial points were

left out.

• The engineer Ruben J. Martinez Garcia and the Secretaria de Estado de Obras Publicas have started the revision and rewriting of the old codes. Nothing is

official yet, but they are working on it.

• In cities like San Francisco, California, maps of areas of liquefaction are being made to warn the citizens. Liquefaction

describes the behavior of soils that suddenly go from a solid state to a liquefied state, or having the consistency of a heavy liquid.

When the ground liquefies in an earthquake, sandy or silty materials saturated with water behave like a liquid, causing pipes to leak, roads and airport runways to buckle, and building foundations to be damaged. In

Santo Domingo, nothing like this is being done concerning liquefaction, which does

affect our city and its inhabitants.

DOMINICAN KNOWLEDGE ON EARTHQUAKE SAFETY

1)Has your house been constructed to survive an

earthquake?

a)NO [27%]

b) YES [73%]

2) During an earthquake, in what position should you

stay?

a)Stand up next to a wall [2.7%]

b) Get on your knees, head down, hands clasped on back of your neck, head

covered with book or jacket, near a desk [89.2%]

c) Run outside [8.1%]

3) After an earthquake, what should you do?

a)Check for injuries [8.1%]

b) Inspect your home for damages [0.0%]

c) Check for gas leak [0.0%]

d) All of the above [91.9%]

THESE RESULTS SHOW THAT DOMINICANS HAVE SOME KNOWLEDGE ABOUT EARTHQUAKE SAFETY, BUT WE ALSO HAVE TO TAKE IN CONSIDERATION THAT FOR THIS WE ONLY SURVEYED DOMINICANS IN HIGH SOCIOECONOMIC GROUPS. THIS MEANS THAT THE PEOPLE WE SURVEYED

GENERALLY HAVE A HIGHER LEVEL OF EDUCATION WHICH LOWER SOCIOECONOMIC GROUP DOMINICANS LACK. THEREFORE, THE RESULTS MIGHT NOT SHOW THE REAL KNOWLEDGE OF DOMINICANS. IF A STUDY WAS DONE INCLUDING LOWER SOCIOECONOMIC GROUP CITIZENS,

THE RESULT MIGHT NOT BE AS SATISFYING DUE TO LACK OF EDUCATION.

DOMINICAN INFRASTRUCTURE REGARDING EARTHQUAKES

Earthquake Risk:(2,084,852(population)/135km (distance of the septentrional fault))=15443

The earthquake risk in Santo Domingo is 15443 people per kilometer. In the city, there is approximately 1 firestation every 9 square kilometer, 1 hospital every 8 square kilometers and about 1 police station every 10 square kilometers. Considering that there is 1 school every 2 square kilometers, the amount of hospitals, fire stations, and police stations is way below what is needed. For example: the area of the city is 104.44km2, which means that there is only about 11 fire stations, 13 hospitals, and 10 police stations in the whole city for a population of 2,084,852.

THIS IS A MAP THAT SHOWS THE LOCATION OF MOST OF THE HOSPITALS IN THE CITY

THIS IS THE SAME MAP BUT SHOWING THE LOCATION OF MOST FIRE STATIONS IN THE

CITY.

SUGGESTIONS FOR THE CITY OF SANTO DOMINGOMODEL CITY

THESE WERE OUR TOP THREE PRECAUTIONS TO TAKE REGARDING EARTHQUAKE RISK, AND WE CONSIDER THAT WE SHOULD SUGGEST THEM TO THE GOVERNMENT TO APPLY IN SANTO

DOMINGO.

-USING VALVES TO BE ABLE TO LOCK SOME WATER TANKS SO THAT BROKEN PIPES DON’T COMPLETELY DRAIN THE TANK. WE THINK THAT THESE IS A GOOD PRECAUTION TO BE TAKEN

IN SANTO DOMINGO BECAUSE IN THE PAST, WHEN BIG EARTHQUAKES HAVE STRUCK THE CITY, ONE OF THE MAIN PROBLEMS IS THE LACK OF CLEAN WATER.

-PROVIDE EMERGENCY POWER FOR COMMUNITY CENTERS AROUND THE CITY. WE THINK THAT THIS IS A GOOD PRECAUTION TO TAKE IN THE CITY BECAUSE DAY TO DAY, WE ALREADY HAVE PROBLEMS WITH ELECTRICITY. SINCE CONSTRUCTIONS IN THE LOWER CLASS PARTS OF THE CITY ARE NOT VERY EARTHQUAKE RESISTANT, MANY PEOPLE WILL LOOSE THEIR HOMES. DUE TO THIS, PEOPLE SHOULD BE ABLE TO GO TO COMMUNITY CENTERS FOR SHELTER, AND

THEY WILL NEED THIS ELECTRICITY AFTER AN EARTHQUAKE.

-HAVE EMERGENCY SUPPLIES TO GIVE TO CITIZENS IN CASE OF AN EMERGENCY

-HAVE A PROGRAM THAT EDUCATES KIDS IN PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SCHOOLS AROUND THE COUNTRY ABOUT EARTHQUAKE RISK IN SANTO DOMINGO AND WHAT TO DO IN CASE OF

SUCH DISASTER.

-CLARIFY BUILDING CODES AND ENFORCE THESE BUILDING CODES.

THANKS FOR YOUR ATTENTION