Stopping the tragedy before it occurs: Protecting Lebanese public schools from upcoming earthquake disasters

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to offer an assessment of seismic structural vulnerability of a sample of public schools using Lang survey questionnaire. The structural integrity of public schools in Lebanon is a source of deep concern due to their outdated design and deteriorated status, their apparent lack of compliance with seismic design regulations, the unknown status of their safety and stability, their substandard maintenance and their low construction quality. These schools have not undergone any strengthening improvements to enhance their load-carrying capacity or their resistance to earthquake activity.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper is based on survey questionnaire illustrating the seismic risk exposure of public schools in Lebanon. It offers an assessment of seismic structural vulnerability of a sample of public schools using Lang survey questionnaire. It stresses the needs of retrofitting of public school buildings to enhance their functional capacities against future destructive earthquakes.

Findings

The findings of the survey emphasize the seismic structural vulnerability of the majority of public schools in Lebanon and call for deeper assessment and investigation that involve government officials for strengthening and retrofitting of public school buildings as part of holistic disaster risk-reduction strategy to prevent the induced serious risk to children in the event of a devastating earthquake.

Originality/value

This article should alert school administrators, public leaders and government officials regarding the seismic threats and their subsequent effects on the structural safety of public school buildings in Lebanon. The assessment of seismic structural vulnerability has rarely been performed or even discussed in the Lebanese-related literature.

Citation

Naja, M. and Baytiyeh, H. (2015), "Stopping the tragedy before it occurs: Protecting Lebanese public schools from upcoming earthquake disasters", International Journal of Disaster Resilience in the Built Environment, Vol. 6 No. 2, pp. 182-192. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJDRBE-05-2013-0015