Quakingly Important Issue

Tremors crack 5 high-rise buildings in Klang Valley

2009/10/01

IPOH: Cracks appeared on five high-rise buildings in the Klang Valley due to tremors yesterday, said Housing and Local Government Minister Datuk Seri Kong Cho Ha.

He said, however, engineers found that the cracks were not serious.

Inspections were carried out on the buildings as the occupants had complained to the Fire and Rescue Department of the tremors following an earthquake in Indonesia, he added.

There were no injuries and damage to properties, he told reporters after opening the Perak Science, Technology and Space Exhibition at the Indera Mulia Stadium here today.

An earthquake of magnitude 7.9 on the Richter scale rocked the city of Padang on the west coast of Sumatra at 6.16pm yesterday, causing tremors to be felt across Peninsular Malaysia, especially in high-rise buildings.

An aftershock measuring 6.8 on the Richter scale was recorded in south Sumatra at 9.53am today, causing tremors in Selangor, Negeri Sembilan, Melaka and Johor.

Since the last big quake in Aceh, some experts say that the shift in plates have moved us closer to the epicenter. We are only 350km away from the Sumatran fault line and massive damage has been reported in cities 400km away from epicentres. The earthquake last week was 7.9 on the scale and caused cracks (which buildings by the way? don't the public have a right to know?). The next big one is predicted to even more catastrophic that the almost 9 magnitude one that killed almost 300 000 people around the world. Imagine that one happening on the closest fault line to us. KL and Putrajaya are built on soft soil, which earthquake causes to liquefy into jelly, leading to buildings sinking and collapsing in a sec. Or millisecond. We do not have any laws requiring compliance to earthquake-proof structures. Read this report here.

Our houses are made up of masonry. Bricks stacked tightly. Sideways jolts would bring them down in a flash. I'm not sure what the steel bars within do. For reinforcement?

Here's a page out of Making Your House Quake Proof:
I saw a documentary on quake proofing existing buildings. They used the same kind of system for highrises. I don't know if a simple solution like this would work for our increasingly complex looking structures. I'm no architect...hahaha.

I'm just a concerned citizen who hopes the government will act before the fact. Before our good fortunes come to an end.

And all good things must come to an end. Especially when we are heedless.

And happily oblivious.