Fifty buildings in Yangon will be analysed for earthquake safety later this month using visual screening technology in a new joint project.
The analysis will be conducted by UN-Habitat, the Myanmar Earthquake Committee, the Myanmar Engineering Society, and Yangon City Development Committee. The buildings being prioritised for the screening include hospitals and schools, according to Daw Aye Zar Myo Han, a national program officer at UN-Habitat.
Yangon is believed to be at high risk for major earthquake damage, with a rapidly expanding city and few earthquake-proof buildings. Yangon lies close to the Sagaing Fault, the most active fault in the country.
The new analysis project will use Rapid Visual Screening technology from the US Federal Emergency and Management Agency. The technology, which was developed by the American Society of Civil Engineering, is also used by the MES, said U Saw Htwe Zaw, a central executive committee member at the Myanmar Engineering Society.
The analysis is being conducted under the umbrella of the Strengthening Community and Institutional Resilience to Natural Hazards in Myanmar program, with funding from the European Commission.
Source: Myanmar Times
