Wake up call: Official says Caribbean islands should learn from Haiti situation

Acting Head of the Seismic Research Center in Trinidad and Tobago Lloyd Lynch said Haiti’s earthquake should be seen as a wakeup call for Caribbean islands, including Dominica.

Dominicans raised concerns when the 7.0 magnitude earthquake devastated the Haitian capital on January 12, 2010.

“We should always be prepared for all these types of events. The best way of prescribing earthquake risk reduction plan is through long term mitigation. We must ensure that building codes are adhered to. Government should put some compliance mechanism in place because that’s an area where we are weak in the region” he said.

Meantime, Lynch said the ongoing volcanic sequence in the north of the island should also be monitored.

He said the Seismic Research Center has been monitoring the situation closely but government should continue their public education in that regard.

“Things have not reached crisis proportion but the activity is still ongoing. If the volcano in northern Dominica should erupt, then the whole north of the island could be affected and because of that plans should be put in place to reduce the risk associated with such an event. Government could make an audit if the population, look at vulnerability, social aspect and look at how quickly people could be evacuated,” he said.

He said this should be done at the earliest signs of restlessness of the volcano.

However Lynch said he is aware that government is currently working with the Disaster Preparedness Office.

“Some time ago a plan was made for southern Dominica and using this as a template, I think plans are in place to do a similar one for the north. Once this is in place, the risk of catastrophic event could be minimized. I want to reiterate that things have not yet reached crisis proportion,” he said.

A team from the Seismic Research Unit will arrive in Dominica soon to mount a public education campaign on the volcanic issues in the north, Lynch added.

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1 Comment

  1. Hello
    January 25, 2010

    Lord ,SAVE US. LET US PRAY! Hurricanes are predicted, but earthquakes are not.

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