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Mediamax news agency, Armenia
Dec 7 2012
Only four out of 1,500 schools quake-resistant in Armenia - official
[Translated from Russian]
Only four out of the 1,500 schools operating in Armenia are
quake-resistant, an Armenian official has said.
Sergey Nazaretyan, chief of the Northern Service of the National
Seismic Protection Service of the Emergencies Ministry made the
remarks to journalists on 6 December, Mediamax news agency reported.
"About 2,000 pupils died during the [7 December 1988] Spitak
earthquake. Only 40 out of the 1,500 schools currently operating in
Armenia are retrofitted. The remaining schools are in the risk zone,"
he said.
He said that seismic protection rules should be included on the school
curriculum and children should be taught what to do during an
earthquake. "This will make it possible to considerably reduce human
losses should an earthquake occur," Nazaretyan said. He said that
schools should be retrofitted first of all.
Nazaretyan pointed out that it would be better to avoid building
multi-storey blocks of flats in Armenia. "We do not have a sufficient
experience or culture of erecting high-quality multi-storey
buildings," he said.
"If we compare multi-storey blocks of flats built in the Soviet period
to those built in recent years, the new ones will have an advantage
from the quality point of view. They are more reliable in terms of
seismic stability. However, even if a minor mistake is made in the
[construction] work, the building may suffer," he said.
Nazaretyan said there are over 3,500 blocks of flats in Armenia whose
quake-resistance does not meet current seismic safety standards. He
said about 15bn dollars need to be allocated to retrofit them.
BBCM note: The Spitak earthquake in 1988 killed 25,000 people.
Dec 7 2012
Only four out of 1,500 schools quake-resistant in Armenia - official
[Translated from Russian]
Only four out of the 1,500 schools operating in Armenia are
quake-resistant, an Armenian official has said.
Sergey Nazaretyan, chief of the Northern Service of the National
Seismic Protection Service of the Emergencies Ministry made the
remarks to journalists on 6 December, Mediamax news agency reported.
"About 2,000 pupils died during the [7 December 1988] Spitak
earthquake. Only 40 out of the 1,500 schools currently operating in
Armenia are retrofitted. The remaining schools are in the risk zone,"
he said.
He said that seismic protection rules should be included on the school
curriculum and children should be taught what to do during an
earthquake. "This will make it possible to considerably reduce human
losses should an earthquake occur," Nazaretyan said. He said that
schools should be retrofitted first of all.
Nazaretyan pointed out that it would be better to avoid building
multi-storey blocks of flats in Armenia. "We do not have a sufficient
experience or culture of erecting high-quality multi-storey
buildings," he said.
"If we compare multi-storey blocks of flats built in the Soviet period
to those built in recent years, the new ones will have an advantage
from the quality point of view. They are more reliable in terms of
seismic stability. However, even if a minor mistake is made in the
[construction] work, the building may suffer," he said.
Nazaretyan said there are over 3,500 blocks of flats in Armenia whose
quake-resistance does not meet current seismic safety standards. He
said about 15bn dollars need to be allocated to retrofit them.
BBCM note: The Spitak earthquake in 1988 killed 25,000 people.