Building a Safer Americas

Two earthquakes in two months can put the many forms of poverty into perspective.

Within a period of 47 days, the richest and poorest nations in Latin America and the Caribbean were hit by massive natural disasters that took vastly different human tolls. Five days after the 8.8 magnitude earthquake hit Chile on February 27, the number of deaths stood at 802. In Haiti, the 7.0-magnitude quake of January 12 killed some 220,000.

The incredible disparity can be attributed to some factors beyond human control.  The quake’s epicenter in Haiti was much closer to a dense urban area than the one in Chile. Also, Haiti hadn’t seen a major earthquake for 150 years whereas volatile seismic activity is frequent in Chile.

But the human element – particularly the quality of construction –proved to be the most decisive determiner of the number of casualties. Simply and sadly, far more buildings collapsed in Haiti than in Chile.

It is not enough, however, to merely blame poverty – such an abstraction tends to gloss over important details. The deaths can be tied more specifically to the poverty of human and institutional capacity.

The first is easily identified. Chile has the highest income per capita in Latin America, roughly $14,000 last year, and its citizens are some of the best educated in the Americas. Haiti, on the other hand, has the lowest income per capita, at $1300, and nearly half of the population 15 years or older cannot read.

The lack of institutional capacity compounds the impact of poor skills. It is clear for many experts who have surveyed the damage in Haiti that for all practical purposes there was no national building code. According to Sylvana Ricciarini, director of global services at the International Code Council (ICC), “if there was one … people were not conforming to it and it was probably insufficient for the country’s risk.”

In the Caribbean, there are efforts underway to adopt a Regional Building Standard based on the ICC’s “International Codes,” the same codes used by most cities and states in the United States.  Regional leaders hope this effort will help Haiti erect safer buildings and, more importantly for the long term, develop local know-how with certified builders, building inspectors and code enforcers.

But the adoption of a uniform building code is complex. Right now, the majority of the 15 Caribbean Community nations have no national building standards they adhere to strictly.

Political pressures and sensitivities often mar the process. Local In a massive reconstruction effort such as the one going on in Haiti, donors attach their own codes to their own projects, complicating the establishment of standards and undermining efforts to create reliable local skills.

Codes too fall victim to pressures outside the countries where they are to be applied. Back in 2001, the U.S. Congress sought to fund the translation of ICC building codes into Spanish and help train Latin Americans in their use. Other U.S. organizations involved in writing standards complained that Congress was playing favorites and as a result the final bill passed without any funding, rendering it meaningless.

Without a standard code, reconstruction funds may simply go to waste. Stephen Forneris, a former New York state code enforcement official and practicing architect, traveled with a group of U.S. building experts five years ago to review areas in El Salvador rebuilt with millions of U.S. aid after two earthquakes hit the country in early 2001.

Their assessment was bleak:  many of the new buildings would not meet U.S. standards. If another earthquake strikes in that region, Forneris said in an interview, “I am positive that we would see the same destruction.”

This state of affairs frustrates Forneris and others dedicated to improving building practices in Latin America. Engineering calculations are technical and objective and shouldn’t fall prey to the whims of politicians or a misplaced sensitivity to outside meddling. Their distribution should be easier and greeted with the same anticipation as a medical breakthrough. “Sharing building code information (should be) like sharing penicillin to cure diseases,” Forneris said.

But it hasn’t been so. And those sitting atop the next earthquake may pay dearly.

Latin America has many zones of high seismic activity. Where the next earthquake will hit, no one knows. That it will is certain. Adopting, implementing and enforcing consistent and up-to-date building codes shouldn’t need further incentive.