Post-Earthquake Inspections begin in Syria’s Kobani
KOBANI, Syria (North Press) – On Wednesday, the Local Administration and Environment Board in the city of Kobani, northern Syria, began removing and demolishing buildings that were partially damaged by the recent earthquake that hit the area and caused damage to homes and buildings.
On Feb.6, a 7.8-magnitude earthquake rocked Syria and Turkey killing and injuring thousands of people, as well as collapsing hundreds of residential buildings in both countries.
Fawaz Ahmad, co-chair of the Local Administration and Environment Board, affiliated with the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES), said that they formed a three-group committee to assess buildings’ structural damage.
Ahmad told North Press that the committee has a complaints office in the Environment Directorate, anyone can file a complaint.
He added that the work of the committees are in full swing according to the directives of the Engineers Committees. “We remove the affected parts of any building.”
“The damage is partial, the walls are cracked. So far, we have removed the damage from three places inside the city,” he said.
Ahmad indicated that they have a list of damaged places that need to be demolished based on reports from the follow-up committees that include engineers.
He further explained that electricity emergency teams, the Internal Security Forces of North and East Syria (Asayish) and the traffic police are helping them by closing roads and keeping the civilians away from places that need demolition.
On Thursday morning, the death toll for the earthquake that struck Syria on February 6 reached more than 3.583 people, and more than 6.342 were injured in a provisional count.
Shahida Muhammad, co-chair of the Union of Engineers in Kobani, said that they, too, have formed a three-group committee of engineers. Each group consists of five engineers.
Muhammad added that the committee works in coordination with Kobani’s Municipality and Local Administration Board.
“The tasks of the committees and groups are to detect the buildings damaged by the recent earthquake in Kobani,” she told North Press.
“Residents who notice any problems in their buildings can report to the municipality between 8:00 am to 3:00 pm,” she noted.
She stressed that the committees “inspect the buildings, and identify structural damage that need to be addressed.”