The Transformation of Teil: Four Years After the Earthquake, Seismic Risk Management Expertise and Town Reconstruction

Four years after being devastated by an earthquake, the town of Teil in Ardèche continues its metamorphosis. Not all reconstruction projects have been completed. Town planning has been redesigned. And the city’s services director has become an expert in seismic risk management.

On November 11, 2019, when the earthquake occurred, Emmanuel Buis had just been recruited as general director of services for the town of Teil. He has the heavy responsibility of managing the crisis at all levels in conjunction with the State’s technical services.

We were constantly adapting and the State was like us. Every day, we hoped to see an expert in seismic crisis management come, but no one ever arrived.

Emmanuel Buis, general director of services for the town of Teil

We had to face it with determination. An earthquake cannot be anticipated and the consequences last a long time. Several families had to be relocated for more than six months. Two schools operated with students in modular units for more than a year. Even today, the work continues.

And yet, four years have passed. All city departments worked on the reconstruction file. And recently, Teil has slowly been reborn from its ashes.

A file has been formalized with the French Association of Earthquake Engineering, l’AFGP, as feedback on seismic risk in small French towns. Here it is.

There we find no less than 62 recommendations to be applied in the event of an earthquake. Among them, the establishment of a one-stop shop, the role of Human Resources in managing employees’ rest times or even good practices in terms of expertise and diagnosis, donations, without forgetting relations with humanitarian associations. , the prefecture and the elected officials of the municipalities concerned.

With this experience and this work of synthesis, Emmanuel Buis became the French expert in terms of seismic risk. He regularly intervenes by videoconference with the prefecture of Charente-Maritime and the elected officials of the municipalities affected by the earthquake of June 16.

To testify and share his experience, Emmanuel Buis also travels to municipalities that request it, such as Tarbes, Grenoble, Strasbourg and Aix-en-Provence.

Before us, it had been 50 years since there had been a destructive earthquake in France. The Charente-Maritime earthquake is, to some extent, the same as that of Teil. Cities are starting to ask themselves the question of seismic risk and to take an interest in it.

Emmanuel Buis, general director of services for the town of Teil

Seismic risk is often relegated to the back burner in municipal crisis prevention and management documents. However, it is very real on French soil. The Alps and the Pyrenees are classified as high risk, and 2/3 of France (except Gironde and Île-de-France) are classified as moderate risk, as was the case for the town of Teil.

During his interventions, Emmanuel Buis recommends to elected officials to model the impacts what an earthquake would do to their city. Depending on the nature of the soil and the construction of the buildings, “It’s entirely possible to see where it’s going to fall apart.”

A real electro-shock. Therefore, with full knowledge of the facts, a city can plan work to increase its capacity to cope with an earthquake. “Grenoble, for example, has undertaken to carry out an audit of all its schools” says Emmanuel Buis.

Today, few cities have this reflection in France. We don’t have this culture of seismic risk: earthquakes happen elsewhere, in Turkey, in Morocco… However, there is a real challenge in prevention to reduce damage.

Emmanuel Buis, general director of services for the town of Teil

Many houses had to be destroyed, too damaged, leaving gaping holes in Teil. Faced with this gigantic urban planning project, Mayor Olivier Pévérelli (PS) has initiated consultation with residents to collect their wishes in order to rethink, district by district, the city as a whole.

A partnership program was signed with the State and the city obtained 15 million euros in subsidies through l’ANAH (National Housing Improvement Agency) to restore or reconstruct its public buildings and modernize public space.

• 1.5 million to restore two schools
• 2.5 million for City Hall
• 2 million for the church of Mélas
• 2.5 million to rebuild the city center church

We reversed the order of things, giving priority to bicycles and pedestrians then to cars. We created breathing space in the neighborhoods by creating places with trees. The city center will be completely transformed with a park and children’s games.

Olivier Peverelli

Mayor (PS) of Teil

The Teil bypass, the construction site of which is still in progress for an opening to traffic in 2025, initiated the reflection in terms of town planning. But the Teil earthquake was “a boost” to begin the process and begin the work. But everything doesn’t happen at the same time.

In the Frayol district, a tree-lined square and a 12-space car park will soon be built. Start of work in 2024. In the Mélas districtsame work, but they will start later.

To avoid tremors and not weaken the existing buildings, the town has no longer been crossed by heavy goods vehicles since November 11, 2019. For four years, the town has become more breathable. Considered a transit town marked by pollution and traffic jams, Le Teil aims to become a destination cityaccording to the mayor. “We have spared no effort, the results are there. We must now continue the work and bring back activities and services to the city“, confides Olivier Pévérelli.

Before the earthquake, the Teil counted 9000 habitants. The city is said to have lost around 2,000 after the earthquake. A census planned for next year should confirm whether or not residents have returned.