Yerevan cannot resist new earthquake
Yerevan is not prepared for an earthquake, says Chairman of the Union of Architects Mkrtich Minasyan.
"Yerevan citizens were at a loss after the recent devastating earthquake in Van, Turkey. They rushed out of their homes and stood under the walls of buildings," he says.
Minasyan observed panic among citizens and says people had nowhere to flee because of the high density of buildings.
"We are absolutely illiterate in this matter, besides, we abuse our land resources, i.e. our buildings are densely built up. Even though constructors say they use earthquake-resistant construction techniques, they build them in a traditional manner, using pumice blocks which will certainly fall down during tremors," he said.
Minasyan says that the narrow streets and highways further aggravate the situation.
The architect proposes to ‘unburden' the city by transferring certain government agencies to Gyumri and Vanadzor.
"It will take our officials an hour to get to these cities," he said.
The architect hopes that officials will take care of their capital and will not allocate new sites for construction.
