The “National Council for Scientific Research” confirmed in a statement that, “In response to the request of several official authorities to uncover the gap that appeared in the abscesses of the town of Barqa, the Bekaa Valley, the Council formed a delegation of specialists, which included from its centers each of the director of research at the National Center for Remote Sensing, Amin Shaaban. Jihad Haidar, Director of the National Center for Geophysics, Marilyn Al Brax, Head of the Department of Civil Engineering at the Higher Institute of Engineering in Beirut – Saint Joseph University, and Secretary of the Chamber of Disaster and Crisis Management in Baalbek Governorate – Hermel.
The statement added: “On the current 4th, the delegation visited, in the presence of the Secretary-General of the National Council for Scientific Research, Tamara Al-Zein, the Mayor of Bashwat, Hamid Keyrouz, and Representative Antoine Habashi, the aforementioned site on geographical coordinates (34°09`47”N & 36°10`08”E). ), so that it concludes with the following:
Existence of a ground hole with a diameter of between 2 and 3 meters and an initial depth of more than 25 meters in the Barqa area, within the above-mentioned coordinates. This gap is located in an area where limestone rocks of the Middle Cretaceous era predominate, within a depression of a surface water stream covered with cracked and thick clay soil (more than 10 meters in depth), so that rocks appear following this depth. Calcareous exposed to the phenomenon of karstification (which is the process of dissolution of limestone rocks and their erosion by groundwater – carbonate dissolution karstification), which leads to the occurrence of gaps in these rocks (Dolines), many of which can be observed in several areas in Lebanon (such as the area between Oyoun El-Samman – Baalbek happened), except that this gap in the aforementioned site was covered with thick soil and was not visible on the surface of the earth.
The statement indicated that “the aforementioned site is completely on one of these karst gaps (Dolines) that are covered with a layer of fragile clay soil, which constitutes a weak point, and it may have been subjected, over time, to a cracking process that led to its collapse, and the recent seismic tremors may have accelerated this collapse.” It showed the gap in question.In the scientific part, this phenomenon is normal and there is a possibility of the presence of many of these gaps covered with thick soil in the area, as it was previously reported that similar gaps occurred albeit at a lower depth, which calls for caution by citizens when noticing cracks in the Topsoil The Council, with specialized teams, will work on some additional geophysical surveys that will allow learning more regarding the extension and spread of the holes in this site.
He concluded: “As for practice, the council recommended the necessity of fencing the gap with a solid fence (not sticky tape like the one currently in place), with a wide margin that goes beyond it by several meters, in order to warn citizens from passing along it, especially as it is subject to expansion due to the fragility of the soil, and because the presence of adjacent gaps is not excluded due to The nature of the region is as mentioned above, with the need to quickly bridge the gap in order to preserve public safety.
