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Armenians commemorate `88 quake

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  • Armenians commemorate `88 quake

    Stanford Daily, CA
    Stanford Univ.
    Dec 1 2006

    Armenians commemorate `88 quake

    Speaker event, photo gallery seek to learn from disaster
    December 1, 2006
    By Maneesha Limaye

    Engineering Prof. Anne Kiremidjian stressed the importance of stable
    construction, reliable building materials and architectural expertise
    in averting humanitarian tragedies after natural disasters in a
    Pigott Hall speech last night.

    The event, sponsored by a broad coalition of campus groups including
    the Armenian Students Association (ASA), Blume Earthquake Engineering
    Center, Sanksriti, Six Degrees and Engineers for a Sustainable World,
    was half of a two-part event entitled `Mitigating Natural Disasters:
    Lessons from the Armenian Earthquake.'

    `The range of groups that had a role in organizing this event
    reflects the impact natural disasters can have on all segments of
    society around the globe, making the message we wanted to send all
    the more powerful,' said senior Seepan Parseghian, ASA president.

    The discussion was combined with a two-day photo exhibit to honor the
    victims of the 1988 Armenian earthquake and to understand its
    consequences in light of recent natural disasters in New Orleans in
    2005 and the Indian Coast the year before.

    The photo exhibit's aim was to provide visual images of the poverty
    and damage caused by the earthquake. Raffi Mardirosian, ASA member
    and organizer of the gallery, was pleased with the exhibit's turnout
    and impact.

    `I think it went well,' he said. `A lot of people were able to see
    that people have nothing in Armenia. The pictures really show the
    infrastructure damage and the state of ruin.'

    While the photo exhibit attracted a more general audience, the
    speaker event was targeted toward engineers, emphasizing their
    importance as potential contributors to future earthquake security
    policies.

    `Non-traditional security threats like natural disasters are costing
    the global community an increasing number of lives, and engineers
    have a crucial role in preventing this trend from worsening,
    especially in developing nations, where the engineering expertise
    offered at institutions like Stanford is not available for the local
    populations to use,' Parseghian said.

    Kiremidjian, a faculty member at the Blume Earthquake Engineering
    Center, emphasized the importance of infrastructure stability and
    discussed the economic, social and political contexts surrounding the
    Armenian earthquake.

    `It is important to understand where a country is located and its
    political setting when an earthquake occurs,' said Kiremidjian.

    Eighteen years ago, Armenia, a member of the now-defunct USSR, was
    struck with an earthquake that leveled its northern regions, causing
    thousands of causalities and displacing many more refugees.

    Kiremidjian estimated that 40 percent of Armenia was affected.
    Twenty-five thousand people were killed, 514,000 were left without
    shelter and 1,198 buildings were destroyed in just one city of
    Leninakan, Armenia. By contrast, an earthquake of the same magnitude
    struck San Francisco, Calif., the following year and killed 64
    people.

    `It was a truly devastating event,' Kiremidjian said. `I would rank
    it as one of the worst disasters around the world.'

    The damage, she explained, was a direct consequence of civil
    engineering.

    `In addition to poor design, the quality of the concrete used in
    Armenian buildings was poor,' she said. `Supervision during
    construction was nonexistent. It was a combination of all the worst
    possible conditions.'

    Despite great strides in understanding of earthquakes and safety
    precautions for engineering structures since then, Kirmidjian said
    earthquakes - along with other natural hazards - continue to result
    in enormous human casualties.

    `It is important to recognize the potential of earthquakes, to
    understand their consequences and to not be complacent, but to work
    towards better policies that will make the necessary changes,'
    Kiremidjian said.

    An audience dominated by engineering students praised the event.

    `It was a very touching presentation,' said Ting Lin, a graduate
    student in engineering. `It raises the awareness and shifts the focus
    away from local concerns and towards international ones.'

    `It was really informative,' said Heather Bischel, another graduate
    student in engineering. `I haven't been to any of the ASA's
    presentations before, but I was interested in the topic. I liked how
    she approached it from a human aspect. She truly has a passion for
    the people there.'

    http://daily.stanford.edu/article/2006/12 /1/armeniansCommemorate88Quake
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