A group of architects from other provinces detected “vulnerabilities” in the buildings
14ymedio, Havana, 21 November 2024 — The two earthquakes of last October 10 in Granma province left some 8,170 damaged buildings. In Pilón, where the tremors were felt most strongly, the affected buildings are, for the most part, private homes in which the “specialists,” sent from several provinces in the country, have found “vulnerabilities,” which, they allege, resulted in “130 total collapses, more than 700 partial collapses and damage to thousands of roofs, walls and floors” in that municipality.
A team of “architects, designers, technicians and specialists in Housing and Construction, together with colleagues from other provinces, are going inch by inch through the affected areas.” They have found the cause of the collapses, explains the State newspaper Granma in an article published this Wednesday.
“We have been going house by house, and we have detected a group of violations that threatened the security of these homes in the face of this phenomenon. For example, we found many masonry houses that lacked connections between the wall and the columns or did not have the number of columns that the house needed, which resulted in the collapse of the walls or caused cracks in them,” says architect Javier Jorge Castro Cabrera.
Although he clarifies that “the magnitude of the earthquakes cannot be minimized, because they were strong events that would inevitably cause damage,” the professional suggests that, if the houses had been built correctly, the consequences would have been minor. The architect is right. The problem is that, when it comes to building homes, most of it is done by “self-effort,” the Regime’s euphemism for properties built by the owners themselves.
On the Island, building a house by “self-effort” translates into buying materials that are often not available
On the Island, building a house by “self-effort” translates into buying materials that are often not available or, if found, are usually adulterated. It also implies hiring bricklayers and individuals working on their own, without guarantees of being able to claim for a poorly executed job, and with only the sporadic assistance of the community architect. This is without taking into account how many years it can take from the moment the first blocks are placed to when the house is finished, which means that the oldest parts of the structure have spent a lot of time outdoors and can be weakened.
Even so, without alluding to the difficulties in building a house by oneself, the authorities insist on pointing out the defects that “increased the negative impact” of the quakes. According to architect Liana María Sosa Hernández, several houses had walls of blocks or bricks that were not properly anchored to the wooden structure of the building. “Those are two incompatible materials, and the columns have to be made to provide security,” she explained. For the same reason, many roofs, especially those made of fiber cement, ended up collapsing.
“The soil in seismic areas is also very important. The first thing that moves is the soil, and one of the recurring mistakes that we found is floors that lift or sink because the soil wasn’t compacted correctly during the construction process,” says Sosa.
The architect adds that, “in contrast,” many buildings “that were well executed” are still “intact.” Sosa does not exempt the State sector from construction irregularities: those that “did not have an adequate constructive sequence, because modifications were made or levels were added to them, also show effects.”
“Due to the magnitude of the earthquakes, damage has also been recorded in structures that were well executed (although to a lesser extent), which demonstrates the need to build according to the construction and earthquake codes,” says Granma.
Even the professionals were surprised by the impact of the quakes
In the end, even the professionals were surprised by the impact of the quakes. “It was really very shocking to get to places in Pilón where the earthquakes threw entire houses to the ground, and in others where they cracked walls, lifted floors, tore off plaster and split columns in two, and all in just a few seconds. I’ve never seen anything like this,” Castro Cabrera said.
Although revealing in some aspects, the article of the Communist Party’s official media focuses especially on the “solidarity” of the technicians and specialists who came to the municipality to assess the damage. Their presence, it says, “constitutes a significant incentive for the affected inhabitants.”
“We have been evaluating, diagnosing and calculating based on whether the Government can make decisions and use the most convenient resources for recovery. At the same time we have provided technical advice to residents, explaining the conditions of their homes as well as possible solutions, and people have thanked us for that,” continues Cabrera. He recognizes, however, that “people are still afraid and are worried about the continuing aftershocks.”
The architect maintains that “people are much calmer after we visit their homes and explain, for example, how they can secure their wall, because there are some that are cracked but don’t have to be knocked down. They can still use them, like the roofs that were blown off but can be disassembled and reused with metal beams from the State.”
If so far it had not been possible to evaluate the damage, it is because the province did not have the staff
Sosa had a similar perception of the residents’ fear. “Our presence in those affected places helped to reassure people, because some see the cracks in their homes and think they’re going to collapse, and it doesn’t necessarily have to be like that,” she said.
As for the victims, “the neighborhoods that are below sea level have been identified for future relocation to safer areas, while temporary facilities are being created for people who suffered total house collapses. Alternatives are being sought on the premises of state entities, to adapt them and use them as housing,” says the media.
However, regarding the reconstruction of homes, the authorities do not promise anything: “We plan to initially solve the minor affectations, which take fewer resources, and the others depending on what we receive.”
So far it has not been possible to evaluate and quantify the damage precisely, because the province did not have the staff to do so and had to wait for specialists to arrive from other areas, said Dailín Pérez Castillo, deputy director of Housing. In one sentence, the official summarizes, despite the press’s attempts to minimize the situation, the complex damage scenario after the earthquakes: “They didn’t give us enough people to quantify it.”
Translated by Regina Anavy
____________
COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORK: The 14ymedio team is committed to practicing serious journalism that reflects Cuba’s reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by becoming a member of 14ymedio now. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.
