Tremors in Salamieh and Lessons Learned from the 2023 Earthquake

The Hama governorate experienced several seismic tremors in August, the strongest of which occurred shortly after midnight on August 11 and 12, registering 5.3 on the Richter scale. The epicentre was in the village of Tal Al-Durra, near Salamieh, approximately 30 kilometres east of Hama. While these tremors did not result in the collapse of residential buildings, they caused material damage and cracks in homes.

As the tremor exceeded 5 on the Richter scale, Syria’s National Earthquake Centre classified it as an earthquake, and determined that it occurred at a depth of 10 kilometres beneath the surface. These tremors were reportedly caused by movements in the Palmyrene tectonic plate due to accumulated subterranean stress, with geological experts stating that they were indirectly linked to the February 6, 2023 earthquake.

Dozens of people were taken to Salamieh hospitals with fractures and bruises, mostly from jumping out of windows or falling while descending stairs. A local correspondent for The Syria Report noted that emergency teams from the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) set up tents and organised public shelters in parks immediately after the earthquake. Many affected in Salamieh are currently waiting for the AKDN to announce a programme to repair and reinforce their properties. They do not expect much support from the municipality, given its limited budget and its inability to handle tasks such as garbage collection and water supply to residents. The AKDN operates in several regions of Syria, particularly in areas inhabited by the Ismaili community. Salamieh’s population is estimated at around 200,000, most of whom are Ismailis.

Hama Governor Maen Sobhi told the semi-official newspaper Al-Watan on August 28 that the governorate had taken measures to address the impact of the tremors in Salamieh and its surrounding countryside, aiming to mitigate their damage. These measures included forming a public safety committee to inspect damaged buildings and increasing the readiness of disaster response institutions.

In a statement to the official news agency SANA, Salamieh City Council Chairwoman Souhad Zaidan explained that the public safety committee began its work the day after the earthquake. Additionally, the council formed a team of 39 engineers to assess the structural safety of the affected buildings. Mrs Zaidan noted that the council was coordinating with economic and civil organisations to provide alternative rental housing for the affected residents, with rent covered for a full year.

The governor told Al-Watan that 475 homes were damaged by the tremors across Hama Governorate, with 37 needing full evacuation and 152 requiring reinforcement and repairs. However, these figures are not compatible with what the chairwoman of the city council stated in the same article, published on August 28. She noted that the Salamieh city council had received over 900 requests for inspections in the city and had inspected around 750 homes. Of these, 38 percent (285 homes) were found to be safe but in need of minor repairs, 53 percent (398 homes) required reinforcement and repairs, and over 8.5 percent (64 homes) needed to be evacuated and demolished.

A correspondent for The Syria Report highlighted that the discrepancies in the figures given by officials could be seen as an attempt to exaggerate the damage in order to attract support from donor organisations. This appears to be one of the lessons learned by Syrian state institutions following the February 6, 2023 earthquake.

In the same statement to Al-Watan, the governor of Hama called on international donors to help repair the water and sewage systems in Salamieh and its surrounding countryside, and to improve wells and pumping networks to address the severe water crisis, despite the issue being unrelated to the August 12 earthquake. Salamieh and its surrounding areas are suffering from severe drought, with water sources such as wells and springs drying up. As a result, farming in the region has shifted to rain-fed agriculture due to the scarcity of irrigation water. Drinking water is pumped according to a strict rationing schedule, with supplies available for only a few hours every three days. Most residents are forced to buy drinking water from unregulated sources, sold via mobile tankers. The main water network is deteriorating due to lack of maintenance and failure to implement new projects in this sector.

Additionally, one municipal official told The Syria Report that most of the buildings in Salamieh classified as dangerous and in need of demolition were at risk of collapse even before the August 12 earthquake. This is often because the municipality did not issue renovation permits (officially known as reinforcement and partial rebuilding permits) for them. The refusal to grant renovation permits is due to two main reasons: either these buildings are not licensed and have unresolved building violations under Law No. 40 of 2012, with the municipality refusing to reconcile and instead calling for their demolition, or inheritance disputes prevent the subdivision of some properties, making it impossible to issue renovation permits. Most of these homes are old, some are made of mud, and a portion of them are abandoned.

Some of the homes classified as at risk of collapse after the August 12 earthquake were already marked for demolition. The municipality has been demanding their removal for years, as they were built without permits in areas designated for urban expansion west of the city under the expansion of the city’s zoning plan. The owners of these properties refuse to vacate them without compensation, particularly because the municipality has previously evicted and demolished some buildings there without compensating the residents. One such building is located near the branch office of the ruling Baath Party in the city, and the municipality wants to remove it because its location obstructs the expansion of a major road.