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Dominican Republic buildings may not withstand strong earthquakes, architect warns
🇩🇴 Dominican Republic /Disasters & Emergencies

Dominican Republic buildings may not withstand strong earthquakes, architect warns

From Diario Libre · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources Context piece
  • Dominican Republic has technical standards for earthquake-resistant buildings, but not all existing structures are prepared for high-intensity earthquakes, an architect warned.
  • Seismic safety depends on construction date, adherence to norms, and whether parameters were followed during execution, according to architect Edgar Martínez.
  • Building codes have evolved since 1979, with a significant update in 2011 and a regulatory reorganization in April 2025, but design compliance doesn't guarantee safe construction.

While the Dominican Republic has technical standards for earthquake-resistant buildings, architect Edgar Martínez warns that not all existing structures are prepared for high-intensity earthquakes. Martínez, president of EM Group Engeneering Mod Architecture, explained that seismic safety depends on factors like construction date, the norms in effect at the time, and especially whether established parameters were actually followed.

He noted that formal consideration of seismic resistance began in 1979 with provisional technical recommendations. These were not legally binding and remained in place until 2011. Therefore, buildings constructed during this period, and certainly those built before 1979, cannot be guaranteed to meet current safety requirements.

the seismic safety conditions of buildings depend, among other factors, on the time they were built, the norms in force at the time, and especially on whether the established parameters were actually complied with during their execution.

— Edgar MartínezExplaining the factors that determine a building's seismic safety.

The country's seismic normativa development can be divided into three stages. Before 1979, there were no specific technical guidelines, and foreign criteria were mainly used. The second stage, from 1979 to 2011, saw provisional recommendations offering more precise structural design guidance. The third stage began in 2011, following Haiti's devastating earthquake in 2010, leading to the establishment of the R-001 Regulation for structural and seismic design by the Ministry of Public Works. This regulation set minimum requirements to ensure structural stability and protect human life.

Martínez emphasized that designing a building to code does not automatically ensure its safety. "Designing on paper is not the same as building, and above all, building according to the norms," he stated. He highlighted that a key problem in the country is the gap between design and actual construction, particularly concerning adherence to standards. In April 2025, the Ministry of Housing and Buildings assumed responsibility for implementing these regulations, integrating them into the new Construction Code.

It is not the same to design on paper as it is to build, and above all, to build according to the norms.

— Edgar MartínezHighlighting the difference between design and actual construction practices.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Diario Libre in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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