Tehran’s seismic hazard; 1.5 million people in danger

IUESA: Touching upon people and official’s awareness about earthquake in Tehran, Tabatabaei said perhaps some experts believe that it cannot be predicted, but evidences indicate that Tehran is not prepared enough to face with earthquake crisis.

Noting that Tehran is considered as one of the earthquake-prone areas tectonically and Alborz faults are active underneath it, he added however, experiences of pioneer cities such as Tokyo have indicated that earthquake risk can be largely inhibited. Tehran metropolis can be resistant by accelerating renovation and rehabilitation of distressed areas, passive defense training, and crisis management.                         

Emphasizing that one of the most important weaknesses in the issue of crisis management of Tehran’s earthquake is lack of comprehensive renovation and rehabilitation of distressed areas, Tabatabaei, the secretary of IUESA said nearly 1.5 million citizens live in those areas.

Emphasizing that one of the most important weaknesses in the issue of crisis management of Tehran’s earthquake is lack of comprehensive renovation and rehabilitation of distressed areas, Tabatabaei, the secretary of IUESA said nearly 1.5 million citizens live in those areas.

According to the official definition of a comprehensive plan in Tehran in 2006, there are nearly 17 thousand hectares of distressed areas including stable and unstable in Tehran metropolis, he explained.

Stressing that there are more than 130 thousand urban distressed and unstable contexts in the country and about 13 percent of them has been renovated, he further said 10 to 15 percent of urban areas are distressed in Iran.

The official stated that one of the main challenges in the process of renovating distressed areas is lack of citizens and private sectors’ participation in such plans that should be assessed to present appropriate solutions. Not long ago, the President underlined to create legal contexts in order to revive distressed areas as a fundamental step to reduce earthquake risk in most cities, especially Tehran, he further said.