Palestine: Seismic monitoring and earth science studies station opens
An Najah National university celebrated the opining of a seismic monitoring and earth science studies station in the area of Auja through the the Earth Sciences and Seismic Engineering Unit which is part of the Urban Planning and Disaster Risk Reduction Center.
The opening was under the patronage of his Excellency the prime minister D.r Salaam Fayyad and the Prof. D.r Rami Al Hamdallah the University president and in the presence of Mr. Paul Karnatz , German representative office, Ramallah, the engineer Majed Alfetyani the governor of Jericho and the Jordan valley , Dr Jala Dabbeek , the Coordinator of the Scientific Research Centers at An-Najah National University, Dr Christopher Kottmeier and Prof Michael Weber, professor of earth sciences GFZ and the German foundation Helmholtz-GFZ and with cooperation with the Palestinian Ministry of Finance and the German center DFG and in coordination with Jericho province, the local council of Al Auja and al Auja’s environmental center.
In his speech Prof Dr Rami Al Hamdallah welcomed the attendees and thanked the German foundation that supported this project, he added that this station is one of the most important projects which support the scientific research and the technological progress in Palestine; he added that An Najah National University cooperates with everybody in various fields for the public interest.
Dr Rami talked about the role of the University in building the scientific centers network in 1993 indicating that the building of the underground rooms to accommodate the necessary equipments was funded by the Palestinian Ministry of Finance and with the guidance of his Excellence the prime minister, the first part of the project which is connecting the station with satellite was done several months ago. And the installation of GPS station will be completed later. The equipment in the station and other devices will arrive to Palestine are funded by the German foundation GFZ and the German center DFG. The DFG is considered as on of the biggest foundations which are funding the studies and research in Germany and Europe. He also thanked the German foundation that supported the project, the Jericho province and Al Auja area for their cooperation with the university in the opining of the station.
As Mr. Kottmeier has expressed his pleasure of opening this station which will be an important resource to support projects, and he thanked the university which has allowed the opportunity to build this station and provide the necessary support ,and he hoped that the opining of this station will be a start to build several projects in this field .
Dr Christopher mentioned that they have met with Dr Jalal and they have discussed several issues pertaining to earthquakes and they found it necessary to build a seismic monitoring station in Palestine in cooperation with An Najah , and he thanked the president of the university for his cooperation to make this project a success.
Mr. Paul said that this work was the result of the joint work between the university and the German foundations and this joint work has led to the opining of the first seismic monitoring station, he also confirmed that Germany support these projects in Palestine .
Jericho’s governorate said that this project in the area of the Jordan valley will be very important for the governorate because it is one of the most Palestinian governorates close to the rift hole, and he thanked the university for its scientific interests.
D.r Salaam Fayyad considered the establishment of this important station, emphasized the role of the university in serving the Palestinian community and its needs indicating the role of the higher education institutions in providing the community with competencies which are capable of meeting its needs.
D.r Salaam Fayyad thanked Germany for its support to establish and develop this station and he expressed his deep appreciation for the support that Germany offers to the Palestinian authority and support our national readiness to create the Palestinian state .
D.r Fayyad indicated that establishing this station in the area of the Jordan valley despite the Israeli targeting of the Palestinian existence in this area reflects the Palestinian insistence to survive in his land and its determination to build its future and its institutions on our occupied land since 1967, emphasizing the fact that Jerusalem and the Jordan valley will always be part of this country.
It is worth mentioning that this station is the first in its kind in Palestine in terms of the nature of the used devices or the devices which will be used in the next stage.
Pursuant to the objectives of the Strategic Plan for An Najah National University, and in particular the section on serving the Palestinian society and its institutions and the Scientific Research Centers, the Urban Planning and Disaster Risk Reduction Center was established at the University within the Scientific Centers. Because of the diversity of tasks and goals of the Center, it is comprised of the following specialized and integrated units: the Earth Sciences and Seismic Engineering Unit, the Construction and Transportation Research Unit, the Urban and Regional Planning Unit, and the Architectural Conservation Unit.
Al Auja station is considered the cornerstone of our integrated seismic monitoring network. In the coming months we will be establishing another station in Salfit as part of the DESERVE project funded by the German foundation DFG and Helmholtz Institute and a close scientific cooperation with the German Centre GFZ. In addition, there will soon be a scientific regional project funded by the American foundation USAID to establish two stations for seismic monitoring in the area of Nablus and Jenin (USAID MERC 30-023 Project), where we are in cooperation and coordination with the government, represented by the Prime Minister to develop and establish a national advanced network for seismic monitoring.
In coordination with Jericho Province, the Local Council of Jericho, our host "The Environmental Center" and other organizations in the province, the Earth Science and Seismic Engineering Unit along with other units and centers at An Najah National University will work together with the German organizations GFZ, Helmholtz and other German and European organizations on developing a Earthquake Monitoring and Earth Science Studies Unit in order to cover a number of areas such as equipping the station with the proper sensors and devices related to climate change, biodiversity, magnetic survey and all the ways through which to build an advanced scientific center. "The Dead Sea Studies Center" since, as we all know, the Jordan Valley area is considered one of the most unique natural laboratories of its kind in the whole world.
Despite the limited financial resources, and with the support and care of the university administration and the board of trustees, the Earth Sciences and Seismic Engineering Unit had carried out a large number of events and scientific activities, which have included all the segments of the society, from the average citizen to the specialists to the decision-makers. Such as: issuing the seismic hazard map, Providing scientific advice to the private sector, government institutions and non-governmental organizations, Conducting seismic site effect (landslides and amplification), seismic vulnerability of Palestinian common buildings and seismic retrofitting of existing buildings, holding courses, workshops, seminars and conferences to increase the institution's capabilities, implementing public awareness programs in the field of seismic disaster risk reduction, through the use of various media, including print and audiovisual, and issuing brochures and scientific books in the field the center's specialty, participating in advisory, scientific and artistic committees of Palestinian, Arab and international institutions, participating in activities carried out by the UN agencies such as UNESCO and UNISDR as well as others, and events carried out by a number of Arab international scientific institutions working in the field of disaster risk reduction, partnering and coordinating with several Palestinian institutions, including: Engineering Association-Al Quds Center, and the Union of Engineers, Civil Defense, and the National Commission for Disaster Reduction, and producing studies and international reports in the field of risk assessment in Palestine and needs assessment, and implementing a number of projects in cooperation with international institutions.
The Center of Urban Planning and Disaster Risk Reduction, through a scientific regional project funded by USAID (MERC 30 – 017) and with the coordination with Jericho's governorate will soon carry out a study to identify the areas of the seismic amplification and the levels of this amplification to produce detailed maps known as seismic microzonation maps, which will contribute to the development of an effective policy for land use of the city of Jericho and its surroundings in accordance with the international standards, which will positively reflect on the investment process.
In a step forward within the context of legislation and laws (Good Governance), an MOU has been signed between the Ministry of Public Works and Housing, the Ministry of Local Government, the Engineering Association and the Seismic Engineering Unit at An Najah National University for the adoption of seismic design of buildings. According to this memo, the official associations stated that "It is important to commit ourselves to the seismic design of the buildings." After the Jordanian earthquake code was adopted, the Jordanian Engineering Association in coordination with the Earthquake Engineering Unit at An Najah National University began preparing training courses to develop engineers’ capacity in working in the field of building design and implementation.
Following a call by the Center during the year of 2012, the standards of disaster risk reduction were adopted in the physical planning guide entitled “The Manual for Procedures and Structural Charting Tools of in the West Bank and Gaza."
We will further continue to work on adopting the requirements and standards of disaster risk reduction in the detailed manual for all the sectors included in the public manual.
Dr Jalal had talked with the prime minister and the participant delegation about the station and its importance.