An-Najah National University

Radwan J. El-Kelani,

 

 
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  • Tuesday, March 11, 2008
  • Rapid Assessment of Seismic Vulnerability in Palestinian Refugee Camps
  • Published at:Journal of Applied Sciences, 8 (8):1371-1382.
  •  Circumstances that place people at risk or what humans do, both in the normal course of their lives and in response to disasters, frequently magnify the vulnerability of communities. Studies of historical and recorded earthquakes in Palestine demonstrate that damaging earthquakes are occurring frequently along the Dead Sea Transform: Earthquake of 11 July 1927 (ML 6.2), Earthquake of 11 February 2004 (ML 5.2). In order to reduce seismic vulnerability of buildings, losses in lives, properties and infrastructures, an attempt was made to estimate the percentage of damage degrees and losses at selected refugee camps: Al Ama’ri, Balata and Dhaishe. Assessing the vulnerability classes of building structures was carried out according to the European Macro-Seismic Scale 1998 (EMS-98) and the Fedral Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The rapid assessment results showed that very heavy structural and non structural damages will occur in the common buildings of the investigated Refugee Camps (many buildings will suffer from damages grades 4 and 5). Bad quality of buildings in terms of design and construction, lack of uniformity, absence of spaces between the building and the limited width of roads will definitely increase the seismic vulnerability under the influence of moderate-strong (M 6-7) earthquakes in the future.

     
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Radwan J. El-Kelani
Associate Professor in Applied and Environmental Engineering Geophysics
 
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