16,000 buildings threatened with falling in Lebanon earthquake or earthquakes … And hospitals?

The earthquake felt by Lebanese residents last night brought to mind the issue of building safety in the absence of a clear public safety policy in case of a minor earthquake or of earthquake.

Earthquake, which makes a mockery on social networking sites, but the reality is sad, where warns the president of the Building Safety Association, Joseph Azzam in an interview with the "Nahar" d & rsquo; A true earthquake Above, and more than 80% of buildings must be rehabilitated or restored.

11,000 buildings in the capital Beirut and surrounding area

4,000 buildings in Tripoli, Zahle and Sidon

About 1,000 buildings in the Mount Lebanon governorate, and other buildings that threaten the General security

Azzam explains that an aerial survey shows that more than 16,000 buildings are subject to the old rent laws, some of which are over 80 years old: "The owner does not keep the building because it is not a building. there is no rent and the tenant does not rent it.

Age of construction according to a World Bank report

25% of buildings in Beirut over 50 years

17% of buildings in the North (over 50 years old)

16% of buildings in the South

15% of mountain buildings

Buildings between 25 and 49 years old

52% of buildings in Beirut

34% of buildings in the north

23% of buildings in the South

Buildings between 25 and 49 years old).

The tragic figures do not stop there: Azzam says that more than 60% of families live in buildings dating back to before 1980 and lack public safety. This outside slums, which include in Beirut only 24 residential communities of more than 300,000 inhabitants, which means that more than a quarter of a million people live in illegal apartments. The result is that Lebanon is heading towards a major disaster if the state does not rectify the situation.

Azzam goes to the scene of an earthquake, all the while the crisis is not limited to random buildings and dwellings, but also includes hospitals, many of which have been built for decades and are not equipped with a strong earthquake.

Former engineer engineer Sameer Dumat agrees that housing in Lebanon is considered catastrophic in the event of a relatively strong earthquake, revealing that after the July 2006 war, the proportion of random buildings increased by more 10,000 units. The random build rate After the Lebanese civil war settled the situation of more than 350 thousand housing units in violation.