Geeks in Romania map earthquake risks in EU's most dangerous capital | Business and economics

BUCHAREST, Romania — Under the catchy name “One Love Central Studio,” a renovated apartment with an open kitchen on Doamnei Street in Bucharest is being advertised on vacation rental site Booking.com for €53 ($57.30) per night in February.

“It's very well located,” said a review on Google Maps. “The building is completely neglected,” another user posted. “Beautiful view,” the user added. “Old elevator,” said a third.

However, the ad does not specify that this apartment is located in a red dot building, which means it is classified as seismic hazard class 1. On a scale of 1 to 4, one means risk of collapsing in a strong earthquake.

Romania has one of the highest earthquake risks in Europe, along with Turkey, Greece, Albania and Italy. Bucharest is considered the capital of the European Union most at risk from earthquakes.

When the ground shakes, earthquakes raise concerns linked to the 1977 disaster that, according to the World Bank, killed 1,578 people in Romania and caused damage totaling about $2 billion. March 4 marks the forty-seventh anniversary of the tragedy.

“Cutremur” (“earthquake” in Romanian) was the most searched word on Google in Romania in 2023 after the 7.8 magnitude earthquake in Turkey and Syria on February 6, and after the 5.0 magnitude earthquake in Gorge County, Romania on 14 February.

These tragedies set off alarm bells in Romania, and new policies have been proposed.

Last March, former Development Minister Attila Czecchi proposed a ban on renting apartments located in buildings with seismic risk level 1. The order was approved by the Parliament of Romania and entered into force on January 1, 2024.

A quick search on rental websites shows that apartments in red-dot buildings are still being rented throughout Bucharest even though owners may face fines of between 5,000 lei ($1,088) and 10,000 lei ($2,175).

On the morning of February 27, two tourists were in front of the building classified as seismic hazard level 1 on Domni Street in Bucharest, carrying a suitcase and their smartphones in their hands. They confirmed that they had just arrived and were waiting for their access code. On the wall, there was a row of boxes containing keys. They wrote the code and entered.

Inside the building, in the hotel lobby, the community president said the apartments were not rented out, “only those booked through Booking,” she added, when this reporter mentioned that she had spoken with tourists who were staying there.

Asked by Al Jazeera whether they were aware that apartments in earthquake-prone buildings were still being advertised on their website, a Booking.com spokesperson said via email: “We are aware of the new legislation and are considering how to apply it to Booking.com.” .com.”

The Booking.com spokesperson added that the company “also highlights that our accommodation partners must ensure they are aware of their obligations and act in accordance with all local laws.”

Use official data to map seismic hazards

“I personally am very satisfied with this move of banning rent in red spots,” said Marina Batug, co-founder of engineering-focused NGO Make Better (MKBT).

“It is an absolutely first step to stop speculation on earthquake-prone buildings and mobilize private funds in seismic retrofits,” she said, referring to the continuing trend of buying such apartments at cheap prices, often for cash, and renting them out at high prices after renovation.

A red-marked building in Bucharest's Victor Eftimiu Alley, whose residents expect to move in in August to begin rehabilitation [Lola Garcia Ajofrin/Al Jazeera]

Romania's civic technology movement used official data to map all buildings in the country with a red dot.

As a joint project between Code for Romania and the NGO Make Better, they created the website “acasainsiguranta.ro” (Safe Home), which provides resources for understanding seismic risks and how to act, individually and collectively.

Aiming to “build technology to address societal issues,” Code for Romania emerged in late 2015, in the wake of the Collective nightclub fire in Bucharest, where 64 people died, explained co-founder Bogdan Ivanil.

Ivanel said that after developing several tools during the COVID-19 pandemic and in the context of the war in Ukraine, they thought it “makes sense to work with what could be the next potential disaster in Romania – an earthquake.”

They were inspired by Codeando Mexico, a civic innovation group that, after the 2017 Puebla earthquake, created a collaborative map of shelters, aid centers, and a database of survivors and volunteers.

They went door-to-door to Red Dot buildings and collected data on their demographics in 2016, Patog said.

“We wanted to know who lives there,” she said. They found “a lot of vacant units”; She added that the units are inhabited by long-time tenants who are reluctant to move out, and units are rented by poor groups, who “fundamentally trade security for price.”

The growing trend is that this type of property is being bought by wealthy individuals paying cash — “since the red buildings are unbankable,” Patog said — who renovate and rent it out for offices or tourist apartments. “Hotels need to pass inspections, but Airbnbs don’t,” she added.

The countless weak structures in Bucharest

Several laws have been passed in recent years to reduce earthquake risks in Romania, including a law that came into effect in July 2022 to allow buildings at risk of earthquakes to be reinforced using state funds.

Bogdan Ivanel, CEO and co-founder of Code for Romania (left), and his colleagues went door-to-door to Red Dot buildings and collected data on their demographics [Lola Garcia Ajofrin/Al Jazeera]

However, progress was slow. Over the past 30 years, only 26 buildings in Romania have been renovated using public funds, of which 19 are located in Bucharest, according to the Ministry of Development, Public Works and Administration.

As part of Romania's national recovery and resilience plan, €220 million ($238 million) will be invested in improving the earthquake resilience and energy efficiency of multi-family housing and public buildings in risk 1 and risk 2 categories, a spokesman for Romania's Ministry of Public Works said. Development, Public Works and Administration via email.

“We have the vision, we have the money, we have the legislation, but we also need the participation of all local authorities,” Adrian Vestia, head of the ministry, posted on Facebook in October 2023.

A woman carrying shopping bags opened the door of a red-signed building in Bucharest's Victor Eftimiu Alley early on a February morning. Preferring to remain anonymous, she said the building would begin renovation work in August and residents would move into government-provided apartments. “The rehabilitation process may take a few years, and then we will come back,” she said.

What if an earthquake occurs before August? “It's definitely a risk,” she admitted.

Building owners, including individuals and homeowner associations, along with property management entities, “are required to have oversight and technical expertise over the buildings they own or manage.” [them]”, said the ministry spokesman.

Currently, 391 buildings in Bucharest are classified as Vulnerable 1 or at risk of collapse, but the number could be much higher, as many buildings have not undergone the technical expertise to assess their seismic susceptibility or were assessed in the 1990s, explained Tewaleda. . Author of the interactive map: Harta Blocuri (“Block Map”).

Driven by his passion for communist architecture, Tewalida, who prefers to use his surname, in January 2018, began creating a comprehensive database for his hometown, Ploiesti, and later expanded it to include Bucharest and 10 of the 40 provinces across the country. 2023. He voluntarily dedicated about 2,000 hours to the map.

“Nobody knows, not even the authorities,” Batug said when asked if Romanian residents were aware of all the edifices at risk.

The Bucharest City Emergency Committee estimated in 2022 that nearly 23,000 buildings in Bucharest could be significantly damaged in a strong earthquake, including dozens of schools, universities and hospitals.

A matter of seconds

Red lines move like sea waves on huge screens at Romania's National Institute for Research and Development of Geophysics (INCDFP) in Majorele, southwest of Bucharest.

In the event of an earthquake, initial steps need to be taken “within seconds,” said Carmen Ortanza Cioflan, scientific director at Romania's National Research and Development Institute for Geophysics (INCDFP). [Lola Garcia Ajofrin/Al Jazeera]

“The Earth is not stationary, it is always shaking,” said Carmen Ortanza Cioflan, the institute’s scientific director, pointing to the computer.

Someone is watching the hourly charts. At night, there are always two people.

When an earthquake strikes, initial steps must be taken “within seconds,” Ortanza explained.

She said that if the earthquake reaches a magnitude of more than 4.5 on the Richter scale, within 25 seconds, “we will get general results from the Earthquake Early Warning (EEW) system.”

EEW is used to quickly detect earthquakes, estimate real-time shaking risks, and provide notifications before strong shaking occurs.

Ortanza sees the emergency response system as “perhaps the biggest achievement yet” since the 1977 earthquake, as the response could save lives or cause further damage.

Japan has had a large-scale EEW system since 2007, and it is now in use in several countries, including Mexico, Turkey, Romania, China, Italy and Taiwan.

“We make a lot of efforts at the educational level in the media and also through dedicated projects,” Ortanza said.

Of the more than 1,500 people who died in the 1977 earthquake, 480 died from burns caused by gas fires, where gas was still being pumped after the quake.

Asked whether Romania would be more prepared this time, Ortanza replied: “It depends.”

“We have to be prepared on a personal level, on a community level, on an institutional level, and throughout society,” she said. “Panic causes more casualties than the earthquake or the building itself.”

What Are The Main Benefits Of Comparing Car Insurance Quotes Online

LOS ANGELES, CA / ACCESSWIRE / June 24, 2020, / Compare-autoinsurance.Org has launched a new blog post that presents the main benefits of comparing multiple car insurance quotes. For more info and free online quotes, please visit https://compare-autoinsurance.Org/the-advantages-of-comparing-prices-with-car-insurance-quotes-online/ The modern society has numerous technological advantages. One important advantage is the speed at which information is sent and received. With the help of the internet, the shopping habits of many persons have drastically changed. The car insurance industry hasn't remained untouched by these changes. On the internet, drivers can compare insurance prices and find out which sellers have the best offers. View photos The advantages of comparing online car insurance quotes are the following: Online quotes can be obtained from anywhere and at any time. Unlike physical insurance agencies, websites don't have a specific schedule and they are available at any time. Drivers that have busy working schedules, can compare quotes from anywhere and at any time, even at midnight. Multiple choices. Almost all insurance providers, no matter if they are well-known brands or just local insurers, have an online presence. Online quotes will allow policyholders the chance to discover multiple insurance companies and check their prices. Drivers are no longer required to get quotes from just a few known insurance companies. Also, local and regional insurers can provide lower insurance rates for the same services. Accurate insurance estimates. Online quotes can only be accurate if the customers provide accurate and real info about their car models and driving history. Lying about past driving incidents can make the price estimates to be lower, but when dealing with an insurance company lying to them is useless. Usually, insurance companies will do research about a potential customer before granting him coverage. Online quotes can be sorted easily. Although drivers are recommended to not choose a policy just based on its price, drivers can easily sort quotes by insurance price. Using brokerage websites will allow drivers to get quotes from multiple insurers, thus making the comparison faster and easier. For additional info, money-saving tips, and free car insurance quotes, visit https://compare-autoinsurance.Org/ Compare-autoinsurance.Org is an online provider of life, home, health, and auto insurance quotes. This website is unique because it does not simply stick to one kind of insurance provider, but brings the clients the best deals from many different online insurance carriers. In this way, clients have access to offers from multiple carriers all in one place: this website. On this site, customers have access to quotes for insurance plans from various agencies, such as local or nationwide agencies, brand names insurance companies, etc. "Online quotes can easily help drivers obtain better car insurance deals. All they have to do is to complete an online form with accurate and real info, then compare prices", said Russell Rabichev, Marketing Director of Internet Marketing Company. CONTACT: Company Name: Internet Marketing CompanyPerson for contact Name: Gurgu CPhone Number: (818) 359-3898Email: [email protected]: https://compare-autoinsurance.Org/ SOURCE: Compare-autoinsurance.Org View source version on accesswire.Com:https://www.Accesswire.Com/595055/What-Are-The-Main-Benefits-Of-Comparing-Car-Insurance-Quotes-Online View photos