In collaboration with the Directorate General of Antiquities and with the funding from the U.S. Ambassador’s Fund for Cultural Preservation (AFCP), Miyamoto Global Disaster Relief organized its first conference in Beirut at the Sursock Palace museum. The conference, entitled “Are you prepared for the next big earthquake? Don’t wait for the disaster to strike!” was attended by specialist engineers and architects, geologists, representatives from municipalities, universities, and the orders of engineers and architects, with the participation of engineers from multiple countries. The conference was held in person and via Zoom and it’s recording will be available at DGA; It provided expert guidance on improving the safety of heritage and newer homes and on improving the resiliency of communities against coming earthquakes. As such, the CEO, Dr. Kit Miyamoto, flew to Lebanon to present in person his experience after witnessing countless earthquakes. He discussed what went wrong in previous earthquakes and presented lessons learned and strategies (individual scale and national scale) for strengthening and preparing communities against future shocks. Kit brought up buildings’ weaknesses to engineers and architects, addressing ways to strengthen them in order to improve their resistance against earthquakes and other natural disasters. Then, the Associate with Miyamoto Relief in Lebanon, Carl Abi Nader, presented that due to its location on several faults, the country is continuously threatened by earthquakes and has been historically ravaged by earthquakes. For this reason, being ready to such events is crucial especially since the current knowledge and technologies now are able to identify risks and mitigate losses. Abi Nader also discussed tools developed by Miyamoto as part of this program, most notably a guideline for engineers and architects to evaluate and strengthen existing buildings, a new mobile application to evaluate structural damage following an earthquake, and a training to implement these two tools. “The disaster might happen at any moment, and everyone should be ready for this possibility because readiness helps reduce human and material losses,” Abi Nader explained, “We are not trying to make people afraid, but what has recently happened in the region and the devastation caused by the earthquake in Turkey convinced us at Miyamoto Relief, that now more than ever it is necessary to work towards this objective. We wish that the Lebanese government implements clear and stringent criteria and an action plan similarly to many other countries.” Furthermore, Abi Nader called on all Lebanese not to hesitate to ask specialist engineers to study their buildings and strengthen them if needed. He added: “The risk is real. A devastating earthquake will inevitably happen in Lebanon since we are located in a seismically active zone. The government, organizations, and individuals must all be attentive and vigilant in order to protect the country and the population against any future disaster.”
