Structural Engineer Ronaldo Ison, Chancellor of the College of Fellows of the Association of Structural Engineers of the Philippines, said buildings in the country should be able to withstand an 8.4 magnitude quake if they follow the National Building Code.
“If your building is designed to the code, then for those earthquakes, the intention of the code is for the building not to collapse. If your building is properly designed, the building should not be collapsing,” said Ison.
However, Ison said that not all buildings follow the code.
In 2011, a study found out that 35 percent of low-rise residential buildings and about 25 percent of mid-rise buildings in Metro Manila did not adhere to new construction codes and standards.
Ison said the Chuzon Supermarket in Pampanga that collapsed last Monday may not have followed the code, despite the insistence of the LGU that the store met the necessary qualifications.
“The earthquake is felt by all of the structures around the vicinity and then you suddenly find this single building collapsing. So there’s a big question why this building collapsed despite that there are other buildings close to it that did not collapse,” Ison said.
The collapse of Chuzon Supermarket, built in 2014, killed and trapped dozens after the magnitude 6.1 quake that rocked parts of Luzon, including Metro Manila.
PNP Chief Police General Oscar Albayade said the owner of the supermarket chain has surrendered voluntarily for investigation. The legislative board of Pampanga also ordered the temporary closure of three other branches of the supermarket in Apalit, Santo Tomas, and Guagua.
For his part, University of the Philippines Nationwide Operational Assessment of Hazards Director Mahal Lagmay said that if the quake’s epicenter is farther away, taller buildings would sway more, while if it is nearer, shorter buildings would be swaying.
But according to Ison, both building types should still be safe. “If the building is designed properly, sinunod ang [it followed the] Building Code, both ways should be okay. It should be able to resist the earthquake,” he said.
Ison stressed that buildings should be regularly checked for compliance with the National Building Code.
“Our code changes, it becomes more stringent. There are requirements for certain things to make it stronger,” he said.
He added that residents should contact an engineer to check their homes and see how it can be retrofitted to comply with updates to the code.
Source: CNN Philippines
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