re: #351 lawhawk

The big lesson to take away is that cinder block construction without rebar is fatal in a strong quake. Concrete with rebar will survive strong quakes, particularly if the structures are engineered for seismic loads. Most in Haiti aren’t; hence the overwhelming damage.

To rebuild to modern seismic codes could be expensive, but it’s absolutely critical to Haiti’s long term well-being since stronger buildings will also provide better protection from hurricanes and tropical storms that have taken thousands of lives over the years in Haiti.

Yes.

Any concrete structures would have to be properly designed by a structural engineer. As we saw with Loma Prieta and the Cypress Viaduct collapse even steel reinforced concrete structures will fail if not designed properly.