00:00And inspections continue in the buildings affected by the June 24th earthquakes in Caracas.
00:05Beyond assessing structural damage, these operations aim to bring certainty and peace of mind to the families who are still
00:12living with uncertainty.
00:14Belén de los Santos shows us how this work is being carried out.
00:18We arrived at the Sofia building in the Cathedral Parish of Caracas.
00:22We joined one of the inspection teams responsible for examining each of the structures affected by the June 24th earthquakes.
00:30Residents submit the report and the specialists go to site to carry out the professional assessment.
00:37This morning, I went there because I am truly one of the people affected in the building,
00:41like another neighbor on the fourth floor, another one on the fifth floor where there are children and, you know,
00:46elderly people as well.
00:47We have all been affected and we are afraid, the fear that all of us here have as residents and
00:52property owners.
00:56People need their homes to be evaluated.
00:59Above all, they need this process for us to explain to them the condition of their structures, the foundations, the
01:04columns, and the beams,
01:06whether they have been affected or not, as well as the level of damage to the masonry,
01:11so they can see the condition it is in, how it can be rehabilitated,
01:15and what types of repairs are recommended for that purpose.
01:20Representatives from Civil Protection, the Caracas Fire Department, the Municipal Council, and the communes
01:26accompany the certified engineer.
01:28The team moves floor by floor, evaluating each apartment.
01:36Residents have reported collapsed walls, especially on the upper floors.
01:40The specialists are seeking to determine whether there are any affected structural elements that compromise the building or not.
01:48The assigned classification depends on that.
01:51An inspection was carried out by structural engineering specialists,
01:55who determined that the building received the yellow tag.
01:59It is habitable, but considerable masonry repairs must be made,
02:03along with some recommendations that will have to be implemented later to strengthen and protect the building's structure.
02:10They gave us the assessment that this is a building where people can live in.
02:15We can live here because the columns are in excellent condition.
02:18They're fine.
02:19There are no cracks in the columns.
02:21There are no cracks at all.
02:25Yellow means that repairs must be carried out, but the building's structure has not been compromised.
02:30Now the priority is to bring peace of mind and reliable information to the residents.
02:35The team talks with them about the next steps and the preventive measures they should adopt.
02:42Practice what you would do if there were another earthquake, how you would get out, teach the children.
02:47Children's Day is coming up, so why don't we do an evacuation drill,
02:50a simulation of how we could evacuate our building.
02:56The engineers really explained everything very well, what had to be done on the upper floors.
03:02And we are truly happy.
03:05Many of the doubts we had have been cleared up.
03:07Professionals came, and those doubts no longer exist for us.
03:13On camera, Marcos Da Silva, Belen de los Santos, for Chalasur English, from Caracas, Venezuela.
