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Doubtful if Iran will learn hard lesson from Bam
Despite the Iranian president’s bold pledge to rebuild the devastated earthquake-hit city of Bam in two years, experts fear Tehran will do nothing to take proper precautions to avert such tragedy in the future. "The earthquake that destroyed Bam is the last warning for officials to force construction workers to conform to quake-resistant standards," said an official at Tehran’s city hall. "In Bam the problem was different. Most of the buildings were ancient, but obviously not even the new ones were built to anti-quake standards," Iranian architect Ahmad Behnam told AFP. The southeastern city was decimated in Friday’s earthquake, which measured 6.7 on the Richter scale. Old and new, private homes and state buildings, including new hospitals, were pulverised in the massive tremblor, killing at least 40,000.
Newest estimate is up to 50,000.
President Mohammad Khatami has said that architects of Bam’s newly-built public edifices, supposed to have complied with quake-resistant regulations, must face the music.
If I remember correctly, one of the oldest legal decrees ever found (Babylon?) covered this subject: "If a man build a house, and it falls and crushes the people inside, then he shall be put to death".
Since a 1991 earthquake killed 37,000 people and injured more than 100,000 in Iran’s northwestern provinces of Ghilan and Zandjan, Tehran decreed that all new buildings must be built to withstand tremors measuring eight degrees on the Richter scale. "The problem is that it is not very clear who should oversee the implementation of these laws," said Khatami. "Unfortunately, many inspectors responsible for checking (their) application don’t do their job or shut their eyes after getting a little backhander," said Behnam.
Building inspectors are running for the hills.
Maybe even a few holy men. Check out Kathy's site for a real tooth-grinder...
In the capital as well as provincial towns, most new buildings are knocked up with blatant disregard for the law. "The other problem is the quality of materials. Very often the cement and the steel used is not the required quality to withstand a powerful earthquake," added Behnam. "Sometimes I’ve seen steel and concrete buildings collapse more quickly than an old home, simply because of bad quality materials," he said.
Not built to code, more bribes.
Even if the government was able to force quake-resistant regulations into practice, it would still leave almost 70 percent of Iranian property out in the cold. Aside from Tehran, 30 percent of Iran’s buildings are old. For the vast majority, it is impossible to do anything but fling gigantic sums at overhauling urban and rural planning. "These homes can’t even support their own weight, they crumble under the slightest pressure," said the city hall official.
Wonder if this could be the trigger for a revolution? Could be if the mullahs are seen spending money on other things while the little people are dying.
Posted by: Steve 2003-12-30
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=23553