Bakhoun Municipality orders evacuation of cracked residential buildings

Municipal police in the Dinniyeh town of Bakhoun ordered the immediate evacuation of a number of residential buildings in the wake of Monday’s new earthquake in Turkey that was strongly felt in Lebanon, media reports said.

The move was taken after “the Municipality conducted an inspection and discovered cracks in the foundations of the buildings,” the reports said.

The aim was to “avoid any development or tremor that might aggravate the damages, but the evacuation decision drew objections from some residents due to the absence of alternatives and the dire financial and social situations,” the reports added.

Lebanon’s residents have been jittery since a devastating 7.8-magnitude earthquake rocked southern Turkey and northern Syria on February 6 and was strongly felt in Lebanon.

The deadly Turkey-Syria earthquake was followed by hundreds of aftershocks and some of them were also felt in Lebanon.