The National Crisis and Disaster Response Operations Coordination Committee met at the Grand Serail under the chairmanship of the Prime Minister and the presence of each of the ministers: Interior and Municipalities, Education and Higher Education, Public Health, Public Works and Transportation, Industry, Environment, Labor, Secretary General of the Supreme Defense Council, Chairman of the High Relief Commission Commander of the Beirut Fire Brigade, Director of the Disaster Risk Management Unit, and representatives of the Ministry of Information, the Army, the Internal Security Forces, the Civil Defense, the National Council for Scientific Research and the Lebanese Red Cross, in order to confront the resulting and potential repercussions of the earthquake that struck Lebanon on 06/02/2023 and to coordinate efforts The national response through an executive action plan that includes the following:
1- The Ministry of Interior and Municipalities to assign municipalities immediately to conduct surveys for buildings within their municipal scope (a preliminary field survey followed by a technical survey) and to inform the Ministry within 72 hours of the ineligibility of any building for housing to be built on what is required, in cooperation with engineers from the Engineers Syndicate and private sector companies. concerned.
2- The Ministry of Interior and Municipalities activate the work of emergency operations rooms in the governorates (governors, mayors, mayors) and remain fully prepared to coordinate response operations when any emergency occurs.
3- Formation of a committee headed by the Ministry of Public Works and Transport that includes engineers from the Engineers Syndicates in Tripoli and Beirut and from the public and private sectors to conduct geophysical surveys of the cracked buildings according to the following priorities (schools, universities, hospitals, dams, bridges, residential places, ….) provided that It uses previously completed studies in this regard, in coordination with the Disaster Risk Management Unit at the Presidency of the Council of Ministers.
4- The Ministry of Public Works and Transport, mobilizing all work teams to face the storm, open roads, provide assistance to citizens, and remain ready to respond in the event of collateral damage as a result of possible seismic aftershocks.
5- The Ministry of Public Health, Public Works and Transportation, Civil Defense, Fire Brigade and the Lebanese Red Cross mobilize and raise the readiness of their specialized teams to respond immediately to any emergency.
6- The Disaster Risk Management Unit at the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, in coordination with the Civil Defense and the Lebanese Red Cross, to circulate the necessary instructions to citizens and the procedures to be followed in the event of an earthquake, as well as to implement a comprehensive national campaign targeting institutions and departments in order to develop plans to mitigate risks and respond during earthquakes and earthquakes.
Provided that these guidelines include the basic points of staying away from collapsing buildings, beaches, electrical wires, bridges and dams… (Awareness leaflet No. 2 issued by the Disaster Risk Management Unit and the relevant United Nations agency is attached as a link).
7- The National Council for Scientific Research to identify the scientific geophysical reality by determining the possibility of similar earthquakes in order to ward off rumors and false news, and to provide the National Information Agency and the Disaster Risk Management Unit with those data, so that they can circulate them objectively to the public.
8- The Ministry of National Information circulates these guidelines and data issued by the National Council for Scientific Research by all available means of publication (governmental and private television stations, audio media, social media, websites, …) with the aim of raising awareness and preventing panic among citizens.
