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European Journal of Engineering


Education
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Revolutionising engineering education


in the Middle East region to promote
earthquake-disaster mitigation
a

Hoda Baytiyeh & Mohamad K. Naja

Department of Education, The American University of Beirut,


P.O. Box 11-0236, Riad El-Solh, Beirut, Lebanon
b

Department of Civil Engineering, The Lebanese University, Al-Arz


Street, Kobbe, Tripoli, Lebanon
Published online: 12 Mar 2014.

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To cite this article: Hoda Baytiyeh & Mohamad K. Naja (2014) Revolutionising engineering
education in the Middle East region to promote earthquake-disaster mitigation, European Journal of
Engineering Education, 39:5, 573-583, DOI: 10.1080/03043797.2014.895705
To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03043797.2014.895705

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European Journal of Engineering Education, 2014


Vol. 39, No. 5, 573583, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03043797.2014.895705

Revolutionising engineering education in the Middle East region


to promote earthquake-disaster mitigation
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Hoda Baytiyeha and Mohamad K. Najab


a Department of Education, The American University of Beirut, P.O. Box 11-0236, Riad El-Solh,
Beirut, Lebanon; b Department of Civil Engineering, The Lebanese University, Al-Arz Street, Kobbe,
Tripoli, Lebanon

(Received 18 May 2013; accepted 31 January 2014)


Due to the high market demands for professional engineers in the Arab oil-producing countries, the
appetite of Middle Eastern students for high-paying jobs and challenging careers in engineering has
sharply increased. As a result, engineering programmes are providing opportunities for more students
to enrol on engineering courses through lenient admission policies that do not compromise academic standards. This strategy has generated an influx of students who must be carefully educated to enhance their
professional knowledge and social capital to assist in future earthquake-disaster risk-reduction efforts.
However, the majority of Middle Eastern engineering students are unaware of the valuable acquired engineering skills and knowledge in building the resilience of their communities to earthquake disasters. As
the majority of the countries in the Middle East are exposed to seismic hazards and are vulnerable to
destructive earthquakes, engineers have become indispensable assets and the first line of defence against
earthquake threats. This article highlights the contributions of some of the engineering innovations in
advancing technologies and techniques for effective disaster mitigation and it calls for the incorporation of earthquake-disaster-mitigation education into academic engineering programmes in the Eastern
Mediterranean region.
Keywords: engineering education; earthquake mitigation; disaster risk reduction; universities; Middle
East

Introduction
Many Middle Eastern countries have repeatedly suffered from the effects of devastating earthquakes and are exposed to the hazard of earthquakes. Communities in Morocco, Algeria, Egypt,
Jordan, Israel, Lebanon, Syria, Turkey, Iran and others are all at moderate to high seismic risk
and are vulnerable to losses and damage from upcoming earthquake events. Although a rising
concern in those vulnerable developing communities regarding such risks and hazards has been
voiced, handling such a complex and costly threat is still in its primitive stages. For instance,
public awareness of the potential threat of a major earthquake occurring in Israel has increased
significantly among the Israeli public during the past few years due to the relatively frequent
occurrence of earthquakes in other parts of the world (Soffer et al. 2011). In addition, after the
Haiti earthquake in 2010, more public attention has been focused on a major earthquake hitting

Corresponding

2014 SEFI

author. Email: hb36@aub.edu.lb

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Lebanon, details of which circulate and observed in the Lebanese Media and among geologists
and engineers. It is known that socio-economic conditions together with education and awareness
of earthquake risk play an important role in shaping the way an affected community will respond
to an earthquake (Coburn and Spence 2006).
As disaster risk reduction always starts with education, school and college programmes can
play an essential role in conveying risk education to vulnerable communities, and may influence
community attitudes towards earthquake hazards and improve preparedness and survival skills
(Shiwaku et al. 2007). Despite the fact that mitigation education and risk awareness can reduce
losses and fatalities (Soffer et al. 2011), none of the major reputable universities in the region
has a requirement for disaster risk education in their curricula and none of the engineering programmes in the Middle Eastern countries has integrated earthquake mitigation in their courses of
study.
Investigations and research related to the seismicity of the Middle East region (Ambraseys
and Melville 1982; Ambraseys, Melville, and Adams 1994) have led to a deep examination and
analysis of ancient earthquake events. In addition, some archaeological explorations (Ambraseys
2006; Nur and Ron 1996) have provided key information enabling the progress of scientific understanding on seismic activities and events in the region; e.g. in terms of an improved understanding
of earthquake magnitudefrequency relationships (Ben-Menahem 1991), the risk migration of
earthquake activity along fault zones (Stein, Barka, and Dieterich 1997), the consequences of
secondary effects such as landslides, liquefaction and tsunamis (Antonopoulos 1980; Wachs and
Levitte 1984) and the relationships between surface geology and hazard exposure (Degg, Shufflebotham, and Doornkamp 2000). However, with all the advances in understanding the substantial
threat involved, Middle Eastern societies remain highly vulnerable to earthquake disasters (Degg
and Homan 2005). Due to the high seismic vulnerability of the majority of Middle Eastern
countries, earthquake threats present a major challenge to national development, the economy
and to the safety of urban communities. The reasons behind the growing seismic vulnerability
in those countries is the lack of mitigation education and preparedness of the population, the
deficiency in the implementation of mitigation policies and the absence of the enforcement of
seismic design methods and procedures in building construction. In fact, a major earthquake
in a highly populated metropolitan area could inflict tens of thousands of fatalities and cost
tens of billions of dollars. Moreover, the consequences of such an event could have serious
implications for the countrys economy, future development and the reconstruction, and recovery
processes.

Purpose and importance of the study


The literature on the engagement status of Middle Eastern engineering communities in earthquakedisaster risk reduction is scarce, and there are no local or regional studies that emphasise the
importance of the direct and proper engagement of educational engineering programmes and professional engineering associations in earthquake-disaster mitigation and loss reduction. Therefore,
this study aims to provide an insight into the role of engineering colleges in reducing earthquake
risk by engaging communities in earthquake-mitigation activities and to highlight the potential
contribution of the engineering community to earthquake-disaster mitigation. The purpose of this
proposed engagement is to create proactive, disaster-resilient communities, as opposed to reactive, disaster-prone communities. The information provided in this article aims to emphasise the
contributions of the engineering sector in advancing disaster-mitigation strategies and to stress the
importance of incorporating earthquake-disaster mitigation in academic engineering programmes
in the region.

European Journal of Engineering Education

575

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Seismicity along the Eastern Mediterranean


Experts believe that Eastern Mediterranean countries Jordan, Israel, the West Bank, Lebanon,
Syria and Turkey are vulnerable to earthquakes and that the region may be long overdue for
a major earthquake (Galey 2010; Taylor 2012). Although the magnitude of such an earthquake
cannot be predicted, its destructive power should not be underestimated. Seismic activities along
the Dead Sea Fault have been observed and well documented, and strong earthquakes have ruined
many cities and towns, transformed thousands of buildings into rubble and left hundreds of
thousands of casualties. In fact, the Eastern Mediterranean region has one of the best records of
historical seismicity in the world, with records extending back more than 2000 years for some
areas (Degg and Homan 2005).
Seismic activity in Lebanon has triggered many earthquakes during the past 2000 years; the
earthquakes of 551 AD, 1202 AD and 1759 AD were especially notable and prominent. The magnitudes of these earthquakes have been estimated at 7.5, and these earthquakes caused tremendous
destruction in the coastal cities of Beirut, Tripoli, Jubail, Saida and Tyre and in the ancient city
of Baalbek. Geologists have shown that Lebanon is covered by seismic fault systems; the Dead
Sea Transform (DST) is extremely important because it has been responsible for the bulk of the
seismic activity in the Eastern Mediterranean. The DST, which originates from the interactions
and collisions of the African and Arabian plates, is the deepest and most deadly fault system in
the Eastern Mediterranean region. The DST extends from Ethiopia through Aqaba, Israel, Jordan,
Lebanon, and Syria and continues north to join the East Anatolian fault in Turkey. This fault
system is the proven origin of several catastrophic earthquakes throughout the history of Lebanon
and its neighbouring countries (Harajli, Sadek, and Asbahan 2002). The Mount Lebanon thrust is
another major active fault that was recently discovered along the coast between Beirut and Enfeh
(Elias et al. 2007). A disastrous 7.5-magnitude earthquake occurred on this fault on 9 July, 551
AD and destroyed most of the coastal cities in Lebanon. Scientists have suggested that similar
earthquakes along the same fault occur at a frequency of between 1500 and 1750 years.
Seismic design in Lebanon is usually based on a simplified procedure and the design is based
on linear analysis outcomes. Shear wall and core systems are usually the lateral load-resisting
elements and the remaining structure is considered as a gravity system. Although such a commonly
used procedure can only be applied under strict conditions regarding building configuration, the
misuse of this approach has led to the application of this method without verifying the validity of
the specified conditions. Therefore, the majority of the recent seismically designed buildings in
Lebanon have been constructed following an invalidated procedure. In addition, another problem
is that both government decrees Nos. 646 (2004) and 14293 (2005) have classified Lebanon as
a moderate seismic zone, contradicting both UBC97 and IBC 2000. Government decree No 646
also exempts buildings composed of three floors or less from seismic requirements, including
schools and hospitals. Such a strange exemption is not based on consolidated fact or scientific
verification, and it contradicts the structural collapse seen in Turkey, Iran, China and Haiti. Add to
this the poor enforcement and the corruption in the Lebanese construction industry that increase
the risk of any future seismic activity.
Syrian seismicity is an extension of that of Lebanon and can be divided into three main
tectonic regimes: the first one is the Dead Sea rift system, the second one is the Palmyrides
mega-tectonic shear zone and the third tectonic zone is the Euphrates system (Brew et al. 2001).
Major historic earthquakes have destroyed most Syrian cities. Seismic design is not required by
the Syrian authorities. Thus, structural mitigation has not been taken into account in urban Syrian
communities.
Israel is also threatened by the DST fault system. The ancient Jewish historian Flavius Josephus
recounted in his writings of a massive earthquake in 33 BC, which killed 50,000 people. Three
more large earthquakes devastated the region as well in 363 AD, 749, and 1033 AD at roughly

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H. Baytiyeh and M.K. Naja

400-year intervals (Peim 2011). The last destructive earthquake in Israel occurred in 1927 with
a magnitude of 6.2 on the Richter scale. Its epicentre was the Dead Sea, and its effects were felt
in Jerusalem, Nablus, Jericho, Ramle and Tiberias, resulting in 500 deaths and injuries to 700.
An earthquake in 1837 killed 5000 people. On average, a destructive earthquake takes place in
Israel once every 80 years, causing serious casualties and damage (Rinat 2010). Many cities in
Israel such as Tzefas, Tiveria, Kiryat Shemona, Beit Shean and Eilat are all highly vulnerable
because they have been built above the SyrianAfrican fault line, which may lead to thousands
of deaths and injuries (Hamodia 2013). The Israels response to the Carmel forest fire in 2010, in
which Israel had to request international assistance to contain the forest fire, revealed its lack of
preparedness and ineffective emergency response operations. Such an incident has demonstrated
the lack of preparedness for a future large earthquake (Peim 2011). Although Israel has adopted
seismic design codes similar to those used in California, the accurate implementation and the
enforcement level have been low; thus the behaviour of seismically designed buildings may not
exhibit the expected seismic resistance (Peim 2011).
The situation in Jordan is very similar to that of Lebanon and it seismicity is an extension to that
of Israel. The last major earthquake that hit Jordan was in Aqaba on November 1995, measuring
6.2 on the Richter scale. It caused some damage to buildings and infrastructure, but no fatalities.

The role of universities in preparing future engineers for earthquake-disaster mitigation


Recently, governments in Middle Eastern countries have embarked on implementing policies
intended to reduce the existing seismic risk. However, creating a sustainable process for reducing seismic vulnerability and building resilience to earthquake threats not only depends only
on implementing policies, but also on advancing the level of risk education, preparedness and
response behaviour of vulnerable communities and engaging professional organisations in disaster
risk reduction. The engineering education curricula in the Middle Eastern region should emphasise earthquake-disaster mitigation, and it should be restructured and rejuvenated to motivate
the engagement of engineers in earthquake disaster risk-reduction activities, to give graduating
engineers the opportunity to play a proactive and effective role in reducing seismic risks and
minimising losses and to prepare them for effective response action in the event of an earthquake. Engineering programmes should not just prepare future engineers to become technocrats
and social elites who are mainly concerned with a luxurious life style and their social reputation
and recognition. Educational engineering programmes in seismically vulnerable Middle Eastern
countries must focus more on aspects of earthquake-disaster mitigation and enrich the knowledge
and experience of engineering students in handling crisis situations induced by sudden earthquake
incidents.
The engagement of the engineering sector has direct implications in terms of reducing future
tragic human losses and physical destruction induced by devastating earthquakes. This proposed
role should begin by advocating new legislation aimed at the development of a national mitigation
plan with the involvement of the local engineering community of practicing engineers, students,
planners and researchers as the backbone of the programme. Higher education institutions have
a solid reputation, credibility, and a high status as far as the public, the government, the private
sector and civil society organisations are concerned. Due to their influential role, social status and
intellectual position, academic leaders, and university administrators from leading institutions in
those countries should be contacted and encouraged to initiate a dialogue with top government
representatives to seek their involvement in an earthquake disaster-mitigation plan. A committee
representing major universities in each country should be rapidly formed as an initial step towards
rallying government support for this humanitarian and national cause. This committee should

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encourage, and support the role of engineering colleges and associations in earthquake-disastermitigation efforts and facilitate collaboration among other sectors with respect to an earthquakedisaster-mitigation plan.
The role of Middle Eastern universities in supporting earthquake-disaster-mitigation efforts
is essential from a training and education perspective. Earthquake-disaster mitigation refers to
preventive measures that help to reduce the severity of losses and destruction caused by earthquakes to life, property and the environment. In fact, it is a set of implemented strategies that
aims at strengthening the built environment leading to the saving of lives and infrastructure protection (Coburn and Spence 1992). To be effectively supportive, universities across the region
must implement a general disaster risk-education course in which college students are exposed to
the dangers of catastrophes induced by natural hazards, the methods of preventing and mitigating
such disasters and procedures to protect communities from such risks. The course should also
outline the importance of the engagement of university graduates in community preparedness,
and highlight the role and contribution of all stakeholders in the response and recovery phases
of a destructive earthquake event. In addition to the proposed requirement of a general education
course, universities should be engaged in activities that raise community awareness of earthquake
risks and threats by launching activities such as lectures, workshops, and short training courses
and school award competitions.
Moreover, universities should increase their investment in research that reinforces the
earthquake-disaster-mitigation plan. For example, seismic-hazard maps that include earthquake
sources and dynamic soil characteristics could be generated by engineering and geophysical
science faculties and overlaid on a plot of schools, hospitals, and other essential facilities and
infrastructure locations. Upon the completion of the maps, a professional engineering committee
from local universities could then identify the seismic vulnerability and risk for such facilities
and determine a retrofitting strategy to be recommended for government authorities to enable
implementation. Such a screening procedure is crucial in determining the seismic risk that critical
facilities may face during a major and powerful earthquake. Engineers should assess the maximum level of transmitted forces resulting from the specific ground-shaking characteristics that
a given facility may experience and the consequent structural damage that may be induced by
such forces. Based on this assessment, the structural type and construction can be evaluated, and
the seismic risk can thus be determined. With these risk assessments, the government would be
informed and acquainted with the resulting seismic risk, and could then prioritise facilities with
the highest risk for seismic retrofitting operations.
Engineering programmes across most universities in the region have recently witnessed a
drastic increase in student enrolment (Baytiyeh and Naja 2010). Therefore, curricula must be
restructured and revolutionised to emphasise earthquake disaster education, to include courses
in earthquake-disaster mitigation and to infuse informal mitigation education through projects
and presentations. Engineering students must be aware of the importance of the engineering
profession in disaster prevention and mitigation as well as the indispensable role, knowledge and
skills of engineers in advancing such mitigation efforts. Engineering programmes should enhance
the disaster-mitigation capacity of future engineers and should give them a sufficient number of
elective courses to expand their skills and expertise in that domain. Students who are enrolled
in engineering programmes should be trained not only to build their future careers, but also to
develop the skills that are needed to facilitate response and recovery after a major earthquake.
Therefore, engineering programmes in the Middle East region should facilitate student
engagement in earthquake-disaster mitigation by enhancing student awareness and community
knowledge of future earthquake disasters. Such programmes should devote more resources to
scientific and engineering research related to earthquake disasters, early warning systems and
local seismicity. Engaging the engineering community in earthquake disaster reduction will be
an effective strategy towards creating earthquake-resilient societies.

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Contribution of the engineering sector to disaster risk reduction


Engineers can significantly contribute to the development and innovation of smart technologies
and procedures that impact the safety of people and enhance property protection in the event
of a disaster. Engineers are responsible for developing basic processes for the perception and
assessment of seismic risk, advanced technologies for reinforcing and monitoring the built environment, loss-assessment methodologies, emergency preparedness, response procedures and the
integration of research into design codes, construction methods and public policy (ORourke et al.
2008). Advances in engineering research and design have led to major improvements in community safety for many different natural and environmental hazards such as earthquakes, fires, floods,
high winds, pollution, oil spills and others. The development of probabilistic seismic-hazard analysis is an innovative technique developed by earthquake engineers, and which has been applied to
hurricanes and tornadoes. The analytical process and modelling methods that evolved from this
concept are used worldwide by the insurance industry to distribute the risk associated with all types
of natural hazards. Another example is the application of post-earthquake building-inspection protocols to evaluate the state of damage of buildings. Such a rapid procedure for post-earthquake
building inspection was applied shortly after September 11 and helped speed up the restoration
of New York City businesses and the world financial markets. Buildings surrounding the World
Trade Center were mapped to assess their structural integrity using post-earthquake inspection
guidelines (FEMA 2002). Engineers have a chief role in the development of efficient and effective methods for modelling complex, interdependent lifeline-system performances. Structural
monitoring, protective systems, remote sensing and Web-based GIS are technologies that have
been improved significantly through earthquake engineering applications. These technologies
provide enormous benefits through improved surveillance and real-time management of critical
infrastructure (Celebi et al. 2004). For example, remote-sensing technologies and Web-based GIS
originally developed for earthquake investigation were later applied in reconnaissance missions
and response planning for Hurricane Charlie in 2004 and Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
Technologies employed in protective systems for earthquakes can also safeguard structures
against wind. Base isolation is one of several innovative engineering systems used to protect
moderate-sized buildings. It works by decoupling or isolating the structure from its foundation
through the introduction of bearings, with low horizontal stiffness between the structure and
foundation. Such a system is capable of simultaneously reducing both the drift and acceleration
induced by the transmitted seismic or wind energy (Buckle and Mayes 1990). Passive-energy
dissipation that involves a range of materials and devices for enhancing energy-dissipation mechanisms is another engineering technology used to limit the effects of destructive seismic energy
(Constantinou, Soong, and Dargush 1998; Soong and Dargush 1997; Soong and Spencer 2002).
A notable example of passive-energy dissipation is the 55-story Torre Mayor Office Building
in Mexico City (Post 2003) that was able to survive the 7.6-magnitude Colima earthquake that
destroyed numerous buildings in Mexico City. In addition, protective semi-active magnetorheological dampers initially developed for the control of earthquakes are currently applied to control
wind-induced vibration (Spencer and Nagarajaiah 2003).
A crucial aspect of engineering research is planning for prospective catastrophic events. Planning involves the dissemination of codes for the design and construction of new structural facilities
as well as the retrofitting and strengthening of existing ones. Planning also involves the allocation
of risk, the estimation of potential seismic losses and the management of lifeline networks, such
as water supplies, electric power systems and transportation facilities. More recently, planning
for potentially catastrophic earthquakes has focused on performance-based engineering, in which
building design is governed by performance objectives for life safety, the extent of the damage
and the duration of lost functionality. These planning activities provide good examples for other
hazards.

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Sudden, unexpected disasters such as earthquakes pose a unique challenge to emergency


response management. To gain a better perceptive on earthquake disasters in terms of economic,
and social aspects, the Federal Emergency Management Agency has developed a standardised
loss-estimation methodology and computer program (HAZUS; for Hazards United States) that
can be used in preparation for earthquake disasters. HAZUS provides estimates of damage before
a disaster occurs, which can help emergency planners and responders to effectively plan and
respond to unexpected disasters.
Such above-mentioned innovations can be taught and integrated into the engineering curricula
to acquaint future engineers with those technologies and procedures in disaster preparedness,
response and recovery. In fact, building the expertise of engineers and enhancing their familiarity
with the advanced techniques in mitigation and design can improve the resilience of vulnerable
communities to earthquake risks.

Advantages of the engagement of engineers in disaster mitigation


Earthquake-disaster mitigation is a process that should begin long before an earthquake occurs.
Mitigation is typically a difficult, long-term task, but it is always worth the effort in periods of
adversity. Earthquake disaster-mitigation plans should focus on actions that reduce the damaging effects of devastating earthquakes on people and on the built environment. Such mitigation
actions include building code implementation, education, preparedness, training and the development of an effective response and recovery plan. As earthquake hazards cannot be eliminated,
such mitigation efforts should focus on the safety of the population at risk, the protection of
infrastructure and essential facilities and the development and implementation of a backup plan
for restoring life to normal as rapidly as possible after the disaster. Mitigation efforts should be
coordinated prior to, during and after an earthquake event. The pre-earthquake-mitigation stage
should be extremely effective and should involve individuals, engineering associations, educational institutions, civil society groups and government agencies to reduce the tragic effects of
future destructive earthquakes on vulnerable communities.
Most earthquake devastation in terms of infrastructure facilities and residential, and commercial buildings is typically caused by human error, improper planning, ground failure, design flaws,
lack of engineering skills and information, violation of specifications, poor quality control at construction sites and a lack of coordination between the various agencies involved in a development.
Due to the versatility of the engineering profession, engineers are highly suitable and prepared to
function in a wide variety of positions to perform challenging tasks and execute responsibilities
in broad settings that include advocating mitigation policies, urban planning, structural design
and damage assessment, transportation and communication rehabilitation, management, water
resources, environmental protection, geotechnical tasks, and other tasks.
The true strength of any nation lies in its human capital, particularly its engineering labour
force. Generally, engineers develop new products and processes and administer new systems for
civil manufacturing, infrastructure, information management, health-care delivery and computer
communications, among others. Engineers offer their knowledge, creativity and experience to
serve communities and societies. Engineers are professionals who know how to perform the
appropriate tasks at the appropriate time and who are aware of the proper tasks to perform. For
instance, engineers are able to work in teams and possess good communication skills. Moreover,
engineers have demonstrated a remarkable capacity to refurbish health systems in resource-limited
environments through improvements in diagnosis and treatment. The abruptness of earthquake
disasters strains and overwhelms local health facilities through the high numbers of those admitted
with injuries and fatalities. In the wake of an earthquake disaster, the maintenance of medical

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H. Baytiyeh and M.K. Naja

facilities and equipment becomes urgent to address the high demands of disaster victims. Thus,
local engineering expertise in monitoring and maintaining medical apparatuses must be regularly
updated to ensure that hospitals can be ready to serve the community during and after a severe
earthquake. Expert engineers and technicians in biomedical engineering should be trained to
participate in disaster response teams to ensure that diagnostic and therapeutic equipments are
functional and are in good condition.
Engineers are problem solvers and are equipped with technical expertise and scientific knowledge. Such personnel are crucial in times of earthquake disasters in which innovative solutions
and ideas are needed immediately to address the emerging challenges induced by facility failures
or system malfunctions. The realistic and practical nature of the engineering profession provides
engineers with unique abilities and perspectives in approaching, analysing, and evaluating situations. With the ability to perform and deliver under pressure, engineers have developed a unique
skill that is highly needed during disaster periods. Engineering advice and recommendations to
authorities during difficult disaster periods will clearly be valuable and will save lives. Thus,
professional engineers should be relied on to assist government officials in issues related to policy
and decision-making during such periods of national crisis. However, the assistance that engineers can provide in rescue operations is critical, as engineers become an essential component of
search-and-rescue missions, guiding the government and international rescue teams by evaluating
and assessing the safety aspects of buildings under rescue operations to ensure the safety of the
teams involved. In addition, engineering expertise is needed for infrastructure repair in which a
wide range of engineering specialisations can be involved in reducing the effects of such adversity. For example, hydrological engineers are needed for restoring the water supply, transportation
engineers are needed for restoring damaged highways and power plant engineers are needed for
repairing the electrical generators of cities.
Engineers can play a key role in earthquake disaster prevention by providing specific solutions
to reinforce and retrofit concrete buildings and to strengthen foundations as a means of preventing mass casualties during earthquakes. However, such precautions have rarely been applied in
Middle Eastern countries, in which the level of commitment to seismic code enforcement remains
relatively low and the seismic design capability among professional engineers is generally poor.
When a country begins penalising owners and contractors for not complying with seismic design
regulations, progress will commence. Engineers in all vulnerable Middle Eastern communities
must be made aware of technologies, theories, design procedures, software applications and methods that can be used to enhance the performance of buildings and infrastructure facilities during
earthquakes. A variety of seismic code provisions are available and have been published in Middle
Eastern countries. However, the key is in the enforcement rather than in the development of a
specific seismic code. Seismically well-designed buildings ensure that no lives will be lost in the
event of a strong earthquake. Considering where we build and how we build can reduce the effects
of devastating earthquakes and dramatically influence the lives of people in these communities.
Ministries of public works must hire well-trained, ethically committed and seismically certified
engineers to strictly inspect the seismic code implementation in newly constructed buildings.
Furthermore, engineers may influence the national economy by implementing new approaches
in design that prevents the staggering cost of reconstruction resulting from collapse and failure.
The responsibility of engineers during the recovery period is not limited to the domain of designing structural facilities, but it also includes confronting the emerging challenges imposed by the
disaster, engaging in community service and finding solutions for addressing interruptions to
essential facilities that provide basic needs for the affected community, such as the water supply
and network distribution, telecommunications, electric power transmission, and transportation
systems. Such roles in recovery was illustrated in the Isreali war on Lebanon in 2006; despite
a shortage of Lebanese engineers and contractors due to tempting and profitable job opportunities offered by the growing Gulf markets (Baytiyeh and Naja 2012), the Lebanese engineers

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still played a national role in the reconstruction campaign after the destructive war of 2006.
Immediately following the cessation of hostilities, the government launched a major reconstruction operation by forming a Recovery Unit dedicated to act as a link connecting ministries and
other governmental organisations, engineering consultants and international organisations. The
Recovery Units functions were to coordinate the efforts of the various concerned entities for
increased efficiency in the reconstruction activities. The Recovery Unit included experts in the
areas of engineering, project management and law, and was able to accomplish a number of tasks
including the clearance and removal of rubble and debris from Beiruts southern suburbs, rapid
repair of the key municipal infrastructure, emergency oil-spill clean-up, assessment of damaged
bridges and installation of temporary steel bridges, rehabilitation of damaged water networks
in the south, installation of prefabricated housing units in damaged villages, reconstruction of
schools and hospitals, restoring the required engineering work to all national airports runways
and other affected spaces and tunnels and the restoration of fuel containers. Such a mission could
have never been accomplished without dedicated engineering effort, and it has reinforced the
indispensable role of the engineering community in supporting rapid recovery of the essential
lifeline and infrastructure facilities in the aftermath of heavy destruction induced by conflict as
well as disaster (Presidency-of-the-council-of-ministers 2006).
Engineers can thus cope with nearly any type of induced disaster problem, challenge or key issue
that requires engineering skills and expertise. Their engagement in the planning and reconstruction
stages is extremely important to ensure proper design and strict adherence to construction design
calculations and drawings to avoid similar collapses in future earthquake events. Governments
should be aware of this national asset and should thus aim to work closely with the engineering
community. However, failing to realise the value of such a unique sector, and failing to support
the welfare of the engineering community or take advantage of its capacity in preparing for future
earthquake challenges will lead to severe losses and many years of recovery when such a disaster
does strike.
The losses and destruction that are induced by earthquakes can be reduced through disaster risk
education, planning and mitigation in which the collaboration of local governments, academic
engineering programmes, engineering associations and civil society groups can play a critical
role. Recent earthquakes around the world have shown that incorporating seismic designs into
new construction and retrofitting existing essential facilities and infrastructure are highly beneficial in terms of reducing losses when earthquakes do occur. Thus, universities across the Middle
East region should integrate disaster risk education and mitigation in their curricula and offer a
compulsory general education course in earthquake-disaster risk education to all majors. In addition, engineering programmes should enhance the knowledge capacity of graduating engineers,
to emphasise the values of disaster mitigation and to engage engineering students in disaster riskreduction activities. Such steps would create safer and more resilient communities in the context
of potential earthquake disasters.
After all, engineers are not merely city builders, urban designers and creative inventors; they are
also disaster preventers and community savers. Any future earthquake-mitigation plan that is not
based on the engagement and involvement of engineering programmes and practicing engineering
communities will only be partially effective and will not yield the desirable mitigation outcomes.

Conclusion
The vast majority of Middle Eastern countries have repeatedly suffered from devastating earthquakes that have recently become a source of deep concern because of their imminent threat
to the safety of unprepared communities, to poorly designed infrastructure facilities and to the

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fragile national economy. Relying on government response and military action alone to reduce
the adversity resulting from such disasters has proven to be ineffective. This article advocates for
the incorporation of disaster risk education in engineering programmes to promote earthquakedisaster mitigation and to build the capacity of future engineers to assist in the event of earthquake
disasters. Devastating earthquakes are costly at all levels. To minimise earthquake losses, government officials must collaborate with universities and engineering associations to accelerate the
process of developing and deploying effective strategies and techniques to mitigate the induced
and projected losses from earthquakes. Experience has shown that lives can be saved, damage
to property can be reduced and economic recovery can be achieved by incorporating effective
prevention and mitigation measures.
Given that earthquakes are a serious threat to major cities in the Middle East region and
to its population, it is inappropriate for educational engineering programmes and professional
engineering associations to neglect the potential loss of life and massive destruction that could be
encountered after a serious earthquake. Furthermore, given the current economic situation, it will
be impossible for such developing countries to recover from such disasters on their own because
of the limited available resources to rebuild and repair the damaged facilities and collapsed
infrastructure services in a reasonable amount of time. Before such an earthquake strikes, all
stakeholders, including the governments and engineering institutions and associations, must join
in their efforts to launch preventive initiatives to develop and enforce a strict national mitigation
plan to ensure the safety of the community and to protect essential infrastructural facilities from
a potentially damaging earthquake. Therefore, it is the responsibility of engineering programmes
to properly educate future engineers to be knowledgeable, responsive and responsible in support
of such mitigation efforts.

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About the authors


Hoda Baytiyeh has B.E. in Computer Engineering from France, M.S. in Computer Science from the University of Balamand
and Ph.D. in Instructional Technology from the University of Tennessee (Knoxville), USA. Upon graduation in 2009, she
joined AUB Faculty of Art and Science as an assistant professor in the Department of Education. In her current position,
she teaches courses in Educational Technology and Web Design. Her primary research areas of interest include Online
Learning Communities, Social Networking, Engineering Education and Earthquake Disaster Risk Education focusing
on community and schools engagement. She has published numerous articles in peer-reviewed journals and conference
proceedings.
Mohamad Naja received his B.S, in Physics from California State University at San Francisco, and his M.S. and Ph.D. in
Civil Engineering from Michigan State University, USA. He joined the Engineering Faculty at the Lebanese University as
an Assistant Professor of Civil Engineering in October 1995 where he taught Dynamic of Structures, Earthquake Resistant
Design, Base Isolation, Special topic in Seismic Retrofit. He has supervised hundreds of earthquake-resistant design
projects. Besides his academic responsibilities, his research interests focus on passive seismic control and earthquakedisaster risk mitigation.

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