NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF ARCHITECTURE AND CONSTRUCTION OF ARMENIA

A session dedicated to the 30th anniversary of the Spitak Earthquake took place today at the Armenian National University of Architecture and Construction, attended by both academic staff of our university and representatives from the fields of construction and seismology.

The main purpose of the meeting was to present the book “Spitak earthquake” by Eduard Khachiyan, Head of the Chair of “Construction Mechanics” of NUACA, Professor, Associate Professor of Technical Sciences, Head of the author group of “Seismic Structural Design Norms”.

What were the causes of the earthquake? what strength has had the earthquake in towns? Which buildings were the most resistance? what kind of geotechnical effects has had on the surface of the earth and, finally, what was the reason for so many collapses and casualties?

It seems that questions that have been voiced for 30 years have their answers, but the “Spitak earthquake” book provides detailed and scientific analysis of the causes and consequences of the 1988 earthquake, as well as the aid rendered to Armenia during those days, the buildings constructed by foreign countries.

As Professor Khachiyan mentioned, the reason for the massive collapse was the misinterpretation of seismic Building Codes. According to him, the earthquake has shown that the real danger was 2-4 times higher than it was considered during design. The book also touches upon the possible predictions of the earthquake, which are controversial. According to the author, the best solution to the earthquake is to build buildings corresponding to high quality and seismic Building Codes. “People are died not because of an earthquake, but because of the collapse of the buildings,” is mentioned in the book.

Eduard Khachiyan noticed that a human being has a great role in being prepared for the earthquake and minimize the damages, in the sense that, ignoring the building, flat design, makes unacceptable transformation on its own initiative, ignores the seemingly insignificant cracks in the inner walls and various damages.

Many countries are preparing for the earthquake and war with the same strictness and vigilance. Experience shows that this method is more effective than the immediate evacuation of people as a result of semi-veritable forecasts and panic.