Southeastern Cuba, Major Quake Risky Area, Study Reveals

Santiago de Cuba, June 13 (ACN) A research study by the National Seismological Study Center revealed that the southeastern Cuban zone is estimated to reach moderate to high levels of seismic risk, particularly in the municipalities of Santiago de Cuba and Bayamo.

The research kicked off in 2012 in the southeastern zone close to the “fault of Oriente” because it is the most dangerous area for seismic events. The study focused on the designing of scientific and methodological bases to reduce disaster risk in the site, which can be applied to other places.

According to Dario Candebata, civil engineer with the study center, a major achievement of the study has been the possibility to analyze vulnerability and risk, which is useful for other areas of the country, for which it takes the training of specialists in other provinces.

The vice-director of the study center, Grisel Morejon explained that the research also includes an analysis of losses based on would-be scenarios of quake activity in the fault of Oriente and the drawing up of an atlas with construction typologies in Santiago de Cuba.

The research study considered the performance of construction systems under quake activity and the decision to prioritize the reinforcement of buildings because a high percent of the built stock would be seriously damage by an earthquake.

Civil engineer Kenia Leyva stressed the importance of the study to draw up mitigation and prevention plans for quake-related risks in order to safeguard human life and property.

The National Seismological Study Center was granted the Prize of the Cuban Science Academy last May as a posthumous homage to outstanding Cuban researcher Tomas Jacinto Chuy.