Lebanon is a country that is fortunate (and
unfortunate) to be a part of the Mediterranean climate. The country of Lebanon
borders Syria and Israel. In Lebanon, summer takes place from June to September
with extreme heat, spring and autumn are in between temperatures and December
to mid-March are the winter months in which it is rainy in most of Lebanon and
snowing in the mountains. Being that
Lebanon has very dry heat in the summer times, some of the natural hazards that
affect Lebanon are mass wasting and earthquakes. In order to minimize these two
most important hazards for the Lebanese citizens, litigations and precautions
need to be put into place.
Mass wasting is often unexpected in communities.
Many citizens in fact are unaware of what this really means and what the
consequences can mean for their homes, the community and their families. Mass
wasting is downslope movement of earth materials. Lebanon has suffered from
increased mass wasting from the years of 1956-2008, as per an article titled
"The effect of forest fire on mass movement in Lebanese mountainous
areas". The increased mass wasting is at a relatively high 60% increase.
Forests fires can be an extreme rock weathering agent and therefore the actions
used to prevent this natural disaster from repeating itself should be attempted
at its’ maximum potency. Due to Lebanon’s dry weather in the summer, the
chances of forest fires are higher than other countries.
Due to the fires within mostly the summertime, the
country of Lebanon suffers from enhanced water repellency. In addition to high
fire hazard, Lebanon also suffers from "irregular and highly intense
rainfalls" due to its Mediterranean weather. The contrast of hot and wet
on rocks and its land causes this country to suffer from the occurrence of mass
wasting. In order to prevent mass wasting from affecting the citizens of
Lebanon I would encourage them to not build near the forests or leave children
unattended near it as well, due to the great impact of natural wildfires and
leading to mass wasting. One of the suggestions I would make is to always be
aware of your surroundings and travel in groups when preceding a path through
the forests.
In 551A. D. the Beirut earthquake took place in capital
of modern-day Lebanon. This earthquake has the unfortunate event of killing over 30,000 people and it left Beirut
with so much damage to architecture and its’ city that it “took decades for
Beirut to recover its position as a regional capital following the disaster,
and even then, it never entirely regained its former glory (Williams, Paragraph
2). According to experts the country of Lebanon is due for another major
earthquake since the last earthquake took place in 1759. The earthquake of 1759
took the lives of 40,000 people within the country of Syria and Lebanon. One of
the faults running through Lebanon is The Yammouneh fault. This fault line “produces
an earthquake about once every eight to 10 centuries, and the Mount Lebanon
Thrust every 15 to 17 centuries.”
Within the Middle East, there are at least
four major tectonic plates (Arabia, Eurasia, India, and Africa) and one smaller
tectonic block (Anatolia).
In order to prevent the loss of lives during earthquakes
and to prevent the same tragedy that occur within the Beirut earthquake, I
would ensure that all buildings complies with the law requirements passed in
1994. The law to ensure all buildings were safe from earthquakes was passed in
1994. This law states that “all new construction must be built according to
standards incorporating seismic resistance. But most residential buildings are
old, built before these laws were introduced. And with little government
oversight, construction laws are rarely enforced”.I would ensure these laws were followed in order to keep citizens safe. There is nothing done to prevent earthquakes from
occurring but there are limitations that should be upheld in order to prevent
humans from being harmed in this natural disaster. Over 70% of Lebanese citizens live among the coast and because
homes have been established within these areas, I would give them the option of
moving into the city within distance from the forests in order to prevent mass
waste from affecting citizens as well, at low cost or no cost. When in terms of
thinking of the future, it would be much cheaper to take preventative measures
to ensure all buildings can either withstand an earthquake or are far away from
it that they will not be affected by buildings collapsing or a Tsunami. I
would also ensure that all citizens were aware of where their homes are
located, have the option to move if desired and to be highly skilled in what to
do when an earthquake arrives or mass wasting occurs, as well as ensuring that
the children are trained as well.
Although only some natural disasters can be
prevented, many can be avoided. As mentioned previously, a natural hazard is
only a hazard because humans are involved. If all humans are trained
adequately, there should be minimal threat to all citizens.
