The next earthquake is around the corner - but in Israel the maintenance work on the buildings is still faltering

Some 28,600 buildings could be destroyed or severely damaged during a strong earthquake in the country, most of them in peripheral areas, which are closer to the epicenter.

However, the preference for implementing the NAP in the central cities and the slow pace of work actually expose the weaker areas to the disaster that may come at any moment.

Yoav Itiel

16/02/2022

Wednesday, 16 February, 2022, 08:37 Updated: 10:02

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In the video: Demonstration of a "cheering" system that warns of earthquakes (Photo: Roni Kanfo)

About 80,000 buildings with three or more floors, including 810,000 apartments, need strengthening and protection against earthquakes - according to a report prepared for the Knesset's Research and Information Center last month ahead of discussions in the Interior Committee on a plan to strengthen and protect buildings as an amendment to the Planning and Building Law. NAP 38.

According to estimates by the Inter-Ministerial Steering Committee for Earthquake Preparedness, in the event of a strong earthquake, in addition to injuries, about 28,600 buildings may be destroyed or severely damaged, with damage of at least 45% of the building value, and about 290,000 Additional buildings with minor or moderate damage at a rate of 5% -20% of the building value.

1,871 buildings, including 36,758 apartments, are located in areas prone to earthquakes and require reinforcement and protection work, which is estimated to cost about NIS 3.9 billion.

The State of Israel is located along the "Syrian-African rift", a geographical area prone to earthquakes that can cause injuries and heavy damage to property.

It is therefore of great importance to prepare for a strong earthquake, which could occur in the coming years, and would be a natural disaster on a national scale.

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To the full article

Staircase in a building in Tiberias after an earthquake in January, this year (Photo: Photos of surfers, documentation on social networks according to section 27A of the Copyright Law)

Ongoing seismic measurements, examining the ground oscillations, performed throughout the country indicate uninterrupted seismic activity.

Strong earthquakes that occurred in the Land of Israel in 1837 and 1927 caused heavy casualties and severe property damage.

According to seismologists, the prevalence of a strong earthquake in the region is once every 80 years, so in Israel there is a reasonable chance at any time that a strong earthquake will occur that will be a natural disaster on a national scale.

The probability of earthquake damage and the extent of damage that may be caused in such a scenario vary between different areas of the country, depending on the extent of their earthquake vulnerability.

Localities that are close to the Syrian-African rift - that is, along the Arava, the Dead Sea Valley, the Kinneret Valley, the Jezreel Valley and the Galilee finger - are at greater risk from the coastal areas and inland lowlands.

Area map of the seismic coefficient for the Israeli standard (Photo: Official website, Knesset Information and Research Center)

National Outline Plan No. 38 for Strengthening Buildings Against Earthquakes sets a fast track for promoting protection and strengthening existing structures that do not meet earthquake standards, by issuing a building permit only, without the need for a statutory planning procedure and approving a detailed construction plan, and offers various regulatory reliefs and tax benefits.

However, during the years of its implementation, only 1,337 buildings were actually strengthened and protected, which is about 1.7% of the buildings that require it throughout the country.

Strengthening of buildings according to NPA 38 (Photo: Official website, Knesset Information and Research Center)

The periphery remains marginal in the implementation of this plan as well.

About 76% of the fortified and protected buildings are located in the Tel Aviv and Central Districts, and about 5% in the Northern and Southern Districts.

As part of the NAP, on average, for every protected and strong apartment, a new apartment was built, and thus, a total of 13,124 apartments were added. However, about 80% of these apartments were built in the Tel Aviv and Central districts

. Approximately 23,000 dwellings under NPA 38, which are approximately 11% of all construction starts and approximately 55% of the dwellings in urban renewal.

The duration of the overall construction project, from applying for a permit to the completion of the project, increased from two and a half years in 2010 to more than seven years in 2020, so the route planned to be fast has become slow over the years.

In 2019, it was decided to end the program by 2022, due to its failure to promote the strengthening and protection of buildings to the required extent, and its non-implementation in peripheral localities, where the strengthening and protection of buildings is especially required.

The plan also failed as a tool to compact the built fabric with "urban renewal", in part due to a lack of planning, as well as a lack of response to the needs of the infrastructure and public buildings required for the density created from its implementation.

Buildings in the TMA 38 processes by stage (Photo: Official website, Knesset Information and Research Center)

Government actions to protect residential buildings from missiles in the Gaza Strip: In the years 2017-2008, apartments in about 42 localities in the Gaza Strip were protected.

In the project, about 10,700 MMADs were built with state funding, with a total investment of about NIS 1.7 billion. In the years 2022-2019, NIS 354 million was allocated for the protection of dwellings near the northern border to localities up to one kilometer from the northern border. An additional NIS 35 million was allocated. For the protection and strengthening of public housing apartments.

The periphery remains on the margins.

Beit She'an after the earthquake a month ago (Photo: Official website, Beit She'an Municipality)

Activities of the Ministry of Construction and Housing to strengthen residential buildings in the periphery: In 2014-2020, the ministry subsidized the strengthening of 133 buildings with 2,883 apartments, the vast majority in cities in earthquake risk areas, with a budget of NIS 233 million.

An additional NIS 68 million was allocated to the issue in the years 2021-2022, part of this budget came from balances from previous years, about NIS 39 million, and part of a new budget, about NIS 29 million.

The number of dwellings that have been strengthened and will be strengthened through the assistance of the Ministry in the years 2022-2014 is only about ten percent of all dwellings that need reinforcement in the ten localities in areas prone to earthquakes.

If the work continues at this pace, it will take about 80 years to complete the strengthening of the residential apartments in the ten peripheral cities that are in an increased risk of earthquake.

Prof. Zohar Gvirtsman, director of the Geological Survey, emphasizes that the warning system that has recently begun operating does not replace the need to strengthen old structures and build new structures according to the Earthquake Resistance Standard.

"Only strengthening buildings and durable construction can prevent buildings from collapsing," he said.

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