The devastation caused by Venezuela¡¯s twin earthquakes on June 24 shocked the world, but not Carlos Genatios.
The former science minister and engineer had spent years warning that flawed reconstruction after the deadly 1999 La Guaira mudslides, combined with continued building in high-risk areas, left the region vulnerable.
The disaster is exactly what he feared. Soft alluvial soils, proximity to the San Sebastian Fault and widespread disregard for building codes ¡ª including regulations he helped draft nearly three decades ago ¡ª combined to magnify two minutes of violent shaking.
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