Earthquakes!

[Luckydog]

In Countries where Earthquakes are almost certain to occur they weld steel girders together, and design high rise buildings so that they will sway with any movement of the Earth below.

But here as far as I am aware that is not the case........

Do you bods living in Condo accomodation feel safe?

After all, Thailand is not all that far away from the so called Ring of Fire, where the movement of vast Tectonic Plates are causing quakes on a regular basis.........

That's why I live in a Bungalow!

[mrt273nva]

In Countries where Earthquakes are almost certain to occur they weld steel girders together, and design high rise buildings so that they will sway with any movement of the Earth below.

But here as far as I am aware that is not the case........

Do you bods living in Condo accomodation feel safe?

After all, Thailand is not all that far away from the so called Ring of Fire, where the movement of vast Tectonic Plates are causing quakes on a regular basis.........

That's why I live in a Bungalow!

thanks. i've always wanted to know why YOU live in a bungalow. i can sleep at night now (or maybe not because of earthquakes )

[gummy]

And you not what they say about those who live in bungalows - little up top !

[Maigo6]

In Countries where Earthquakes are almost certain to occur they weld steel girders together, and design high rise buildings so that they will sway with any movement of the Earth below.

But here as far as I am aware that is not the case........

Do you bods living in Condo accomodation feel safe?

After all, Thailand is not all that far away from the so called Ring of Fire, where the movement of vast Tectonic Plates are causing quakes on a regular basis.........

That's why I live in a Bungalow!

Good point, especially as so many Farangs in Thailand moan like crazy about Thai Construction being very poor, I doubt it would take much to make a building crumble then.

Glad to have a single storey house.

[Levent]

I have personally seen the devastation caused by the earthquake in Turkey in 1999. I doubt that the average Thai building is much stronger than those Turkish ones. But I also doubt that such a strong earthquake would occur in Thailand.

[Old Man River]

I have personally seen the devastation caused by the earthquake in Turkey in 1999. I doubt that the average Thai building is much stronger than those Turkish ones. But I also doubt that such a strong earthquake would occur in Thailand.

Hopefully not, but post tsunami we have been told that there are fault lines right near Bangkok and it is only a matter of time. Probably so, but best to not think about it.

[PhilHarries]

Most Thai building have very little lateral stability so if there was a moderate to strong tremor, Richter 7+, yes there would be widespread devastation. But it hasn't happened yet and most Thai quakes are in the Richter 4 max range, a little superficail damage but nothing to worry about. Of course nobody can say it will never happen but the chances of a major tremor are remote. If a Richter 7 hit London or Paris there would be one hel_l of a mess but building designs there, AFAIK, don't take seismic loads into account.

[qualtrough]

About ten years ago I had occasion to interview a visiting engineering professor (German) at AIT. One of his fields of expertise was earthquakes, and I asked him about the chances in BKK. He told me that while BKK is not in an earthquake zone, it could still be subject to tremendous damage. How? He said the situation was similar to what happened in Mexico City some years back. Bangkok is situated on former marsh and swamp land, and he likened it to a bowl of jelly. An earthquake in the zone up by the Burmese border would send out waves. The jelly in the bowl that BKK sits on would reverberate and the shock waves could be severe. He said that in the Mexico city quake, areas between the epicenter and the disaster zone were relatively undamaged, but the same effect caused high rise buildings in the city to sway so much they crashed into each other and collapsed. It was his opinion that such an event was impossible to rule out for Bangkok. Please note: I am not an earthquake expert, and am only passing along his comments. In any event, an earthquake here would be especially bad, as many buildings are in-filled with brick for walls. Anybody on the street would be crushed by these bricks as the walls collapsed. On the bright side, there is a lot of construction machinery in and around BKK, so if you survived the initial collapse your chances of being dug out might be fairly good.

Edited April 23, 2007 by qualtrough

[PhilHarries]

A quick Google revealed the facts that show my earlier post not to be entirely correct:-

Department director-general Somsak Photisat said the last earthquake with such severe effects occurred in 1545 and damaged the ancient city of Chiang Mai.

Historical records also showed that a big quake hit in Thailand in 1015, sinking the ancient city of Yonok and turning the area into a big lake, Somsak said.

He said the more recent major earthquakes to hit Thailand included:

A quake on May 13, 1935, that measured 6.5 on the Richter scale with its epicentre in Nan, near the Pua Fault. Since the epicentre was in a forested area, the damage was not recorded, but the quake was felt even in Bangkok.

Twin earthquakes on February 17, 1975. One of them had its epicentre in Tak’s Tha Song Yang district, near the May-Wangjao Fault, and measured 5.6 on the Richter scale while the other had its epicentre near the Srinakharin Dam in Kanchanaburi’s Si Sawat district and measured 5.9 on the Richter scale.

An earthquake on September 11, 1994, in Chiang Rai’s Phan district and nearby areas caused severe damage to the district hospital, temples and several schools. The quake’s epicentre was in Chiang Rai’s Pa Pao district and it measured 5.1 on the Richter scale.

Somsak said several more quakes occurred in Chiang Rai and nearby areas, including the Thai-Laos and Thai-Burma borders, in 1995 and 1996.

Source : http://www.nationmultimedia.com/search/pag...47&usrsess=

I'd fprgotten the 1994 event, just shows how Alzheimers creeps up on us. The doctor did warn me that one of the effects of........err......um.

Whtt's the name of that dang illness?

[kmart]

Well, condo owners in the Chiang Rai area will be sleeping like babies tonight...

Given the percentage of cement content in most construction projects, and the way a lot of contractors skimp on cutting corners, you might as well be living inside walls of tissue paper and spit.

Lets hope that earthquakes don't hit anytime soon.

[ZZZ]

The tsunami earthquake caused my condo in BKK to sway, tiles fell off the walls and some minor cracks occurred, very unpleasant, and this was a new condo. Several other high rises in BKK had minor damage.

Since a year back, I think, all construction in BKK and eastern seaboard have to follow some kind of earthquake standards.

[uptou]

i felt the tsunami earthquake whilst sat on the toilet in a first floor apartment in phuket.i walked out to the balcony as i thought it was possibly an excavator where they were redoing the road outside.lucky enough for me,i went back to bed.being a lazy bugger possibly saved my life.

after the waves hit & the water level flowed back (which was surprisingly powerful),i took a walk to the beachfront,& noticed that all the walls of the buildings were blown away,& you could see through to the sea.i think the building walls in thailand are largely built for keeping the mossies out & i dont like to lean on them too strongly.

[Maigo6]

I'm in Tokyo, and as many are aware, Japan has many tremors per year.

Yet a big jolt still is frightening, and I live in a building that should be able to withstand a major quake, but when the refrigerator shakes, and the floor moves, it's still pretty scarey wondering if this is the big one.

I live on the first floor so I guess I feel it less than the other tenants up on the higher floors.

Still pretty scarey though.

[Levent]

Since a year back, I think, all construction in BKK and eastern seaboard have to follow some kind of earthquake standards.

Yes, but there is a difference between 'should follow the standards' and 'do follow the standards'. Is this enforced or controlled? I somehow highly doubt this.

They have all kinds of such rules in place in Turkey as well, and had them long before the 7.4 tremor in 1999, but still many buildings collapsed almost instantly. After the quake, there were many lawsuits and court cases against the constructors, who of course cut corners and took bribes. After the quake, in some areas they implemented a new rule limiting the height of buildings. Not surprisingly, many buildings are now being built higher again.

[torito]

I have been in a 7.5, and many over 6 (in fact in the large one the first after tremor one hour later was 6+), and I do not believe that bangkok suburb condos will survive something like this, not even a 5+.

Bangkok is not in a danger zone so I do not believe that constructiion is made taken in consideration large tremor forces. In addition to that, given the safety standards of construction and other local issues, one can not be to sure whether existing construction regulations have been followed, e.g quality of materials, etc.

New and large department building make have better chance, I guess.

[pampal]

I lived through the LA earthquakes in the early 90's, so so did 99.99 percent of the people in Los Angeles.

The reason was that the houses were constructed mainly of wood.

I trust reinforced concrete buildings in Thailand to withstand moderate earthquakes, but nothing on the scale of the Japan, Iran, or Los Angeles earthquakes.

BTW, Iran is one of the most active seismic zones in the world.

Edited April 23, 2007 by pampal