Every day, the correspondents’ club describes how the same current event is illustrated in two countries.
The human toll from the earthquake in Turkey and Syria rose to 52,000 on Monday March 6. According to the World Health Organization, this earthquake with a magnitude of 7.8, which took place just a month ago, represents “the worst natural disaster in a century in Europe.” While the Turkish government is strongly criticized by the opposition and independent media for its lack of reaction during the first days in devastated areas, the Turkish head of state, Recep Tayyip Erdogan has promised to quickly rebuild more than 450,000 housing, while ensuring that the constructions comply with anti-seismic standards.
In 2004, in South East Asia, an earthquake followed by a tsunami caused considerable damage. In Armenia, it was in 1988, eight years earlier, that an earthquake hit the north of the country. In one case as in the other, the inadequacy of the devices was pointed out at the time of the disaster.
In Armenia, a large part of the houses are still not up to standard
Armenia, neighboring Turkey, is located between two seismic plates, at the foot of Mount Ararat, a dormant volcano, therefore frequently shaken by earthquakes. The largest, with a magnitude of 6.8, took place in Spitak and Gyumri in 1988, in the north of the country. Entire neighborhoods of the city were razed. The earthquake left 25,000 dead and more than 130,000 injured in a country of barely three million people.
The building code has been updated with more restrictive rules. New buildings can withstand a new earthquake but not old constructions, which represent the majority of housing in Armenia. No one has been relocated and the buildings have not been renovated. Many buildings are connected to each other, which would produce a domino effect in the event of another tremor.
The promoters do not hesitate to carry out less expensive constructions, less in order, to make more profit. The corrupt authorities turn a blind eye to these failings.
In Indonesia, efforts on the prevention
During the 2004 earthquake, Indonesia was the most affected at the human level, with at least 170,000 dead, cities were completely razed by the tsunami.
The day after the tsunami, the government of the time set up a central body to coordinate humanitarian programs and pilot restoration projects in the disaster areas.
After the tsunami, many pointed to the inadequacy of the devices with relatively archaic systems. Efforts have been made on prevention, with the help of the Japanese government agency for development aid, which has extensive expertise in earthquakes.
Another example in terms of prevention: institutions and NGOs also intervene in schools to raise young people’s awareness of natural risks, and explain to them how to react. Finally, with regard to town planning, international aid and architects from all over the world made it possible to rebuild more solid buildings shortly after the disaster. For their part, the Indonesian authorities in particular had stressed the need to build further inland. But several specialists believe that we cannot speak of a radical change on this level.