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A Look at the Traditional Construction During the Earthquake of 7.8 Mw of Pedernales 2016 (Ecuador): The Case of Portoviejo City

Abstract:

Portoviejo is located in a sedimentary basin near the subduction zone of the Nazca Plate and the South American Plate, which moves at a rate of 60 mm per year, the origin of the 7.8 Mw earthquake on April 16, 2016, with more than 660 deathly victims, approximately 6200 injured and serious material damage. This paper analyzes the impact of this earthquake on traditional construction, inherited from ancestral knowledge, declared by UNESCO in the Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity as heritage of the place of origin and an important resource for all humanity. Since the 1950s, wooden porticos filled with clay bricks, pumice, chopped bamboo, or bamboo strips were replaced by materials considered more durable and resistant as reinforced concrete, which increased the vulnerability to earthquakes associated with a popular perception of categorization and improvement of social status, according to the material used in the construction of a building. The use of traditional materials for the construction of buildings worldwide is not only more economical, fast, and durable with a continuous and sustainable maintenance through a conscious and sustainable production, but it is also earthquake resistant and represents fewer risks compared to the buildings of concrete during earthquakes.