Abu Dhabi municipality completes seismic risk project

ABU DHABI // The Seismic Risks Monitoring and Management Project being run by the Abu Dhabi City Municipality has now beeb completed, with a total of 50 observation stations.

The centres will detect possible natural risks such as earthquakes and help with future urban planning.

Musabbah Mubarak Al Murar, acting general manager of Abu Dhabi City Municipality, said: “Despite the lack of a historical record of quakes in the UAE, the type of unique installations which have started to mushroom in the emirate, such as modern high rises, warranted further concentration on the seismic impacts. These installations and buildings are vulnerable to potential risks of potentially violent tremors from seismic sources nearby or far afield.”

Information will be shared by five government entities – the emirate’s three municipalities, the general headquarters of Abu Dhabi Police and the National Centre of Meteorology and Seismology.

The system generates seismic intensity maps whenever a tremor has an impact on the country and assesses seismic risks to infrastructure in case of an earthquake. It will also generate seismic risk maps, which will form the basis for preparing seismic-resistant building code.