"Earthquakes don't kill, structures do": INTEC urges prioritizing structural safety in the face of seismic threats in the Dominican Republic
Following the recent double earthquake in Venezuela, experts from academia and the insurance sector are warning about the 80-year seismic gap in the Septentrional Fault and demanding greater rigor in construction and technical supervision.
SANTO DOMINGO - Dominican Republic faces a seismic risk significant due to the prolonged silence of the Northern Faultspecialists warned that the region, which has gone nearly 80 years without generating a major earthquake, has experienced a major earthquake. Instituto Tecnológico de Santo Domingo (INTEC) and the insurance sector, who called for strengthening the quality of construction, technical supervision, citizen preparedness and financial protection to reduce the impact of a possible large-scale event.
The warning was issued during the panel Building a safer and more resilient country through knowledge, unity, and prevention, carried out by INTEC, with sponsorship from MARSH and MAPFRE, in which seismologists, structural engineers and financial risk management specialists participated, who analyzed the structural and seismic vulnerability of the Dominican Republic.
The event was inaugurated by the rector of INTEC, Arturo Del Villar, who emphasized that “prevention is not a construction cost, it is the noblest and most profitable investment that a society can make to protect its future and ensure the continuity of human life.”
Meanwhile, a panel was held featuring INTEC professors Luis Abbott, a specialist in structures, and Claudia Germoso, PhD in Seismic Engineering; and representatives from the insurance sector Laura Sosa Lamarche, senior vice president and leader of Placements at MARSH, and Pablo Daguzan, technical vice president of MAPFRE, moderated by the Administrative Vice-Rector, Alliet Ortega.
80 years of silence on the Northern Fault
INTEC seismic engineer Claudia Germoso was emphatic regarding the level of national exposure: “What happened in Venezuela could happen in the Dominican Republic.” The Dominican territory is located on the active boundary between the North American and Caribbean tectonic plates and has approximately 18 active geological faults. She stated that the two with the greatest destructive potential are the Enriquillo Fault in the south and the Septentrional Fault, which runs through the northern region of the country from Montecristi to samaná.
Germoso explained that the Northern Fault has an average recurrence period of approximately 50 years for large-scale earthquakes. She indicated that the last major earthquake originating from this fault occurred in Samaná in 1946 and triggered a tsunami; therefore, the country has experienced an 80-year seismic gap. “We are awaiting a significant event. It's not a question of if it will happen, but when it will happen, and the population must be fully prepared,” the specialist emphasized. She also highlighted the potential of submarine faults such as the Muertos Trench, whose path directly impacts Greater Santo Domingo.
Unlike Greater Santo Domingo, which has rigid rock foundations that partially attenuate seismic waves, except in its clay and coastal areas, the city of Santiago de los Caballeros and the northern region have a greater seismic risk, since the proximity to the fault and the characteristics of the soil amplify the vibration, and increase the risk of collapse of vulnerable buildings.
Vulnerability of the works and the problem of supervision
“No one falls in love with the femur itself, but with the skin that covers it. Similarly, in real estate development, visual aesthetics, finishes, and facades are often prioritized, forgetting that the building's skeleton and the inclusion of shear walls are the only things that guarantee survival spaces when the structure collapses,” noted engineer Luis Abbott, a structural engineering specialist with more than 40 years of teaching experience at INTEC.
Engineer Abbott was emphatic regarding the true origin of structural risk in the Dominican Republic: “Earthquakes don't kill, structures do.” He stressed that the most vulnerable sector is informal and illegal construction, as well as formal projects that lack rigorous on-site supervision.
“The licenses and plans approved by the Ministry of Public Works guarantee nothing without real oversight during construction; the building will behave exactly as it was built, not as it appears on paper,” he warned. In the Venezuelan case, the flexibility and rigidity of the non-structural masonry attached to the columns caused a sudden failure of the structural support, which crushed the levels together, leaving no living space, according to the engineer.
Additionally, he advised carrying out immediate inspections in the presence of inclined cracks greater than 2 millimeters in columns or walls, an accessible and moderately costly technical evaluation for four-story buildings.
To mitigate this seismic reality, INTEC has implemented a state-of-the-art monitoring network. Equipped with seismometers, accelerometers, and broadband stations in the north, the network aims to accurately characterize the behavior of the Septentrional Fault before extending southward. Through microzonation studies in Santo Domingo, Santiago, and Barahona, INTEC's seismic engineering laboratory develops updated hazard maps and analyzes vulnerabilities using drones, satellite imagery, and artificial intelligence models. All results, analyses, and maps generated from this research are openly published on the SismicidadRD platform, serving as a direct channel for scientific knowledge transfer and consultation for the public and professionals.
Insurance and reinsurance market
In the area of financial protection, specialists Laura Sosa and Pablo Daguzán emphasized the importance of reviewing policies to ensure "all-risk" coverage or verifying that earthquake endorsement is included.
“It is crucial to avoid underinsurance, ensuring that the coverage amount reflects the actual replacement value, given that the catastrophic deductible in the country is calculated on 2% of the total sum insured and not on the value of the loss,” said Sosa, senior vice president and leader of Placements at MARSH, who warned that most bank mortgage loans only protect the outstanding balance owed to the financial institution, and not the actual replacement value of the homeowner.
Meanwhile, Pablo Daguzán, technical vice president of MAPFRE, presented an overview of the global reinsurance market, which is facing a period of hardening due to the accumulation and severity of climate and geophysical disasters internationally. He noted that Dominican law mandates reinsurance of at least 10% of the total value of assets exposed in the area of highest risk concentration in each of the country's five regions.
In response to the international rise in rates, Daguzán argued that the ideal way to lower local premiums is to improve the quality of engineering data for our buildings, which reduces technical uncertainty and allows for a more efficient and competitive reinsurance market.
Both professionals recommended purchasing business interruption insurance to safeguard operational continuity in the event of potential supplier failures following a seismic event.
The catalyst for the scientific session was the historic double earthquake that occurred on June 24th in Venezuela, consisting of two consecutive ruptures of magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 on the Richter scale. The waves propagated with devastation due to the soft soils, such as alluvial and clay soils, in Caracas and La Guaira.
On Instituto Tecnológico de Santo Domingo (INTEC)
Founded in 1972, INTEC is a private, non-profit, public-service institution of higher education. It stands out as a benchmark of academic excellence, rigorous scientific research, technological development, and social innovation, committed to the resilience and sustainable progress of the Dominican Republic.