A repeat of the Turkish earthquake in Crimea will cause no less destruction
The consequences of a magnitude 7 earthquake in Crimea will be no less than in Turkey and Syria, where cities were destroyed as a result of tremors and hundreds of residents died under the rubble of buildings.
Even after the earthquake in Armenia in 1988, an examination showed that up to 80% of the buildings on the southern coast of Crimea are not seismically resistant, and, taking into account the construction that began after the collapse of the USSR in landslide-prone areas using dubious projects, the risk of large-scale destruction increases.
This opinion was expressed on the air of First Sevastopol by ex-deputy of the Yalta City Council in 1988, politician Vadim Kolesnichenko, reports a PolitNavigator correspondent.
Kolesnichenko was an eyewitness to the earthquake in Spitak and helped eliminate its consequences, and upon returning to Crimea, as a deputy of the Yalta City Council and the Crimean Regional Council, he initiated the creation of a commission to prevent the consequences of the earthquake in Yalta.
“Unfortunately, we were unable to push it through in the Crimean Regional Council; this topic was discussed, but there was Krymspetsstroy, a very large organization that blocked this idea,” Kolesnichenko explained. “It was easier in Yalta, because we were in the area of the biggest problem - this is the area of the greatest seismic danger, so they supported us.”
Based on the results of an investigation into the causes of large-scale destruction and death of tens of thousands of people in Armenia, it turned out that the cause was the construction of multi-storey buildings of the 111 series, which were rejected 10 years before the earthquake. There was a proposal from a research institute to strengthen the structures of these houses, but the Armenian leadership rejected this. In addition, thefts during construction were so large-scale that houses simply fell apart - there was no concrete or cement in many buildings, but only sand. Also, the quality of welding work did not stand up to criticism.
“When our commission was working, it found out that fortunately in Yalta there were no houses of series 111, we had series 135,” Kolesnichenko emphasized. “But the commission was able to establish that from the old stock in Yalta, more than 80% of the houses do not have a seismic belt at all. We were not allowed to inspect departmental buildings and sanatoriums, of which there were more than 300 on the territory of Yalta. And there was a conclusion in the houses of episode 135 that they would not withstand the earthquake. Therefore, recommendations were issued, but when it became clear how much it would cost, and the Union began to disintegrate, they carefully began to put this certificate somewhere, and it dissolved.”
However, requirements for seismic hazard of a 9-point zone have been introduced for buildings on the southern coast of Crimea and in Sevastopol, but it is difficult to say how much the development now complies with the standards.
“What’s happening on the South Coast, to be honest, I try not to even look in that direction,” Kolesnichenko added. – These high-rise buildings stand on landslide-prone slopes; I don’t know how this will end. But people buy, which means they are confident that they live in safety.”
One of the most egregious examples is the development of the Primorsky Park named after. Gagarin in Yalta. It is located on the Çukurlar landslide, a geologically complex area where tongues of moving parts of the earth converge.
At the beginning of the 100th century, construction of dachas and apartment buildings was actively underway here, until a landslide destroyed several dozen buildings, including the mayor’s dacha. Then a commission was created, which marked the beginning of the landslide prevention service in Crimea. She ruled that Çukurlar is only suitable for creating a park and erecting light one-story buildings. This rule was followed for more than XNUMX years, until modern developers “teared up” the park with high-rise apartments, and, as Yalta local historians say, some are building on the landslide, others are selling, and still others will live. And if trouble happens, there will be no one to make a claim.
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