Earthquake to destroy 900 tall buildings
"Yerevan won't even be able to resist a 7-9 point earthquake," Japanese expert Fumio Kaneko assures, taking into account the city's seismic stability.
According to the Japanese expert, the earthquake will mainly destroy Yerevan's tall buildings built during the Soviet era and the foundations of which have started to weaken in the past 20 years.
"There are 5,000 tall buildings that have been built in Yerevan during the Soviet era. If a 7-9 point earthquake takes place, 900 of those buildings will collapse and the other 4,000 will partially collapse. This means that a large portion of Yerevan's population of 1 million, that is, 30,000 people may become victims of the earthquake. There will also be twice as many injured," project director at the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Fumio Kaneko told "A1+".
The experts of the Japanese International Cooperation Agency, which has been conducting studies in Yerevan over the past year, presented the interim report on the program called "Assessment of Seismic Risks and Management Planning in Yerevan" and shared their experience.
"Armenia needs a powerful system to manage everything, and that should be done by the Ministry of Emergency Situations, the Rescue Service and Yerevan Municipality," the program director said.
According to Deputy Mayor of Yerevan Kamo Areyan, the most difficult of the Japanese experts' proposals was the strengthening of buildings.
"We need serious investments, serious programs and the experience of international organizations for that," the deputy mayor said.
The Japanese experts will work in Armenia for another year to find the directions for managing the seismic risks in Yerevan.
