A Study on Safety of Reconstructed Regions after 1990 Rudbar-Manjil Earthquake in Iran

Recovery and post-recovery stages are crucial parts of a risk management system to achieve several objectives: to return the affected area to pre-disaster stage after the catastrophe, to organize essential elements for the prevention of the next disaster, and to increase the capacity of the society. It is important to evaluate the functionality of this stage in any reconstruction program. This paper makes an effort to study the long-term results of reconstruction and recovery (recovery for short) efforts after 1990 Rudbar-Manjil Earthquake in Iran. It both evaluates the vulnerability of the existing buildings and, based on that, evaluates region’s safety. Two separated analyses have been used for the evaluation of buildings’ vulnerability: 1) survey of random buildings, and 2) the regional analysis. The results indicate that two decades after the event; more than 80% of existing buildings are still seismically vulnerable and show that recovery efforts has failed to improve the region’s safety. In this investigation, to establish a safe development culture in after future disaster, it is proposed to have a pre-designed recovery plan with following strategies: 1) Maximum use of local construction technology and technique in the recovery stage. 2) Designing a comprehensive and steady educational program to teach the safe and new methods of reconstruction to local workers. 3) Creation and promotion of an effective system of supervision.