The Emergency Operations Center (EOC) has spent two consecutive years carrying out earthquake evacuation drills and in the middle of this year it will carry out a third exercise in coordination with the United States Southern Command. The goal is for citizens to learn how to defend themselves against these natural events, to build family plans and instructions, and to create evacuation routes.
However, the director of the emergency organization considered that these practices are not enough in a country that has 14 active earthquake faults and is in the hurricane pathFor this reason, he advocated taking this type of orientation to schools and universities so that these young people serve as multipliers in their homes.
“It is a matter of political will. What the Emergency Operations Center does is coordinate the responses, make the plans and we exercise those plans. Part of the Earthquake Contingency Plan is for the population to exercise their evacuation plan,” Méndez explained to Free Daily.
The director of the COE stated that the country must create a culture regarding the subject, and that this is acquired over the years.
“To the extent that this is institutionalized, we will have a better prepared country. Now, we must continue to insist on working on the preparation and naturally continue orchestrating the organization of the response, ”she said.
The general appealed to the media to become guiding entities in relation to these issues because “as an authority we cannot go house to house”, despite the fact that in the digital media of the EOC there is a toolbox that serves as a guide for the population.
He pointed out that it is a set of actions, which, as a State, must be observed and insisted that the entity that leads is responsible for working on preparation and response, but that it is the duty of the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Education Superior, Science and Technology (MESCyT) and other state entities work on prevention.
“The population must also understand that the principle of risk management is the evacuation route. The most intelligent person is the one who tries to preserve his life in the face of a natural disaster”, highlighted Méndez.
What should be done after an earthquake?
When a telluric movement greater than 5 degrees Some structures such as buildings are at risk of damage. In this case, what the protocol establishes is to evacuate the building so that an expert can proceed to examine it to determine if it did not suffer structural damage that could later put people’s lives at risk in the event of aftershocks or a major event.
“Those events (earthquake) unlike others that are progressive (hurricanes, storms and tropical depressions) are difficult to predict. we are in a seismogenic country and we must be prepared”, he recommended.
Safe structures?
Although in recent years the construction of anti-seismic structuresIn Méndez’s opinion, no country in the world is prepared for this type of event.
“That is why it is called a disaster, with nature there is no control, everything will depend on the magnitude of the earthquakeThat is why we say that we as a country must organize ourselves with the Territorial Planning Law that also allows State institutions to identify the lands that are suitable for human settlements and which are not,” said the general.
In the same way, he stressed that the Ministry of Public Works and the municipalities must supervise informal constructions and the places where these works are established in order to avoid situations.
“Nature does not cause disasters, man builds vulnerability,” said Méndez.
No earthquake damage
The National Office for Seismic Assessment and Vulnerability of Infrastructure and Buildings (ONESVIE) reported that no damage to infrastructures was detected after the earthquake of 5.3 degrees that affected the Dominican Republic last Wednesday.
“Any earthquake smaller than 6.5 should not produce any type of damage. Most of the cracks that were reported in some schools are old cracks that were there and that definitely had not been attended to correctly”, explained Leonardo Reyes Madera, general director of ONESVIE.
