Earthquake Rocks Bangkok: Building Collapses with 40 people inside

[thaibeachlovers]

9 hours ago, ravip said:

So how many 100's or 1000's of buildings collapsed today, according to your statistics? OR, is this the ONLY building constructed by Thai people?

Just asking, to share your expert knowledge.

IMO they were lucky that the epicenter wasn't closer. I am also of the opinion that buildings in Thailand are not built to withstand a serious earthquake.

I have seen buildings constructed that did not have strong enough pillars or sufficient internal supports, and was thinking at the time that they would collapse in the event of an earthquake.

It's not the really big buildings that had expert design that are a problem, but the small 4 or 5 story buildings with no expert design input.

[scorecard]

10 hours ago, kwilco said:

Look W888ker - I'm asking for new from people in other towns - what is wrong with that - the news is so far not only. You obviously have no idea

 

And some members are good at search. Other, perhaps older (me 80) not so good at search. 

[kwilco]

55 minutes ago, scorecard said:

 

And some members are good at search. Other, perhaps older (me 80) not so good at search. 

THe earthquake is in Myanmar - it has made a building collapse in BKK - however the media was not carrying anything about other cities in Thailand that are in fact nearer the epicentre - searches were not brining up anything on other cities. I was hoping that some peolpe on TV were able to contribute from there location - but  it seems there is nothing to report or they just don't know. Google is not a source, it is a search engine, I was hoping to get a primary source.

places like Mae Hong Son are only about 350 km from the epicentre (Chiang Mai is about 100 km) - it would be nice to get some official announcement about the situation in th North and west of the country - there have now been several aftershocks.

[jerrymahoney]

13 hours ago, MikeandDow said:

 design approval by coruption   so what do you expect !!

Design approved by discretion.

[ikke1959]

8 hours ago, SABloke said:

 

I apologise - I misread your post 🙃

no problem ... misunderstandings can happen

 

 

[carlyai]

My wife was being operated on in the Bangkok Pattaya hospital during the earthquake.

I initially didn't know what was going on as staff were rushing everywhere and I guessed the hospital was being evacuated. Thought it was a fire as people were looking up at the top floors and one nurse gesturing with her hands things falling down.

I had to ask someone outside what was happening and they said an earthquake.

I just wandered back in the main door to wait for my wife.

Bit disorganised and I'd say not many evacuation drills had been carried out.

The good news was wifey was all good and a nurse stayed with her in the operating theatre and in recovery while all other staff were evacuated.

 

Anyone see any police helping?

[steffi]

The one that surprised me the most was the Park Origin where you can see the buildings sway as they are designed to do but once you connect a bridge between them surely you're asking for trouble.

[JAG]

13 hours ago, blackcab said:

 

If a floor at the top had recently been poured then it may have failed with lateral movement caused by the earthquake. That failure would have overloaded the floor below, then sadly it would become a house of cards.

There is a serious risk @blackcab that you may be introducing an element of thought and knowledge into this debate, please stop before it is too late!

 

"Everyone knows" that Thai standards in construction are inadequate, the fact that no other major high rise buildings, elevated roads or trailways failed is pure luck!

[steven100]

11 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

 

It was 580km away and an estimated 4.5Mw Magnitude by the time the energy reached Bangkok (within approximately 1.5 minutes after the quake in Myanmar)

 

There can't be a quake in Chiang Mai or Kanchanaburi because its not on a plate boundary.

 

  This earthquake, in Myanmar was from the Sagaing Fault, which is a strike-slip (transform) fault where the Indian Plate and the Sunda Plate (or Burma Microplate) slide past each other horizontally.  

Thank you Richard,  now i know alot more about those Techtronic plates that moved. 

 

[hotchilli]

15 hours ago, ukrules said:

Saw this on TV earlier - it's nuts!

Makes you feel real safe that Thai construction is so safe

[scorecard]

2 hours ago, kwilco said:

THe earthquake is in Myanmar - it has made a building collapse in BKK - however the media was not carrying anything about other cities in Thailand that are in fact nearer the epicentre - searches were not brining up anything on other cities. I was hoping that some peolpe on TV were able to contribute from there location - but  it seems there is nothing to report or they just don't know. Google is not a source, it is a search engine, I was hoping to get a primary source.

places like Mae Hong Son are only about 350 km from the epicentre (Chiang Mai is about 100 km) - it would be nice to get some official announcement about the situation in th North and west of the country - there have now been several aftershocks.

 

I can't give any official announcement but I can share that our Chiang Mai city family house (2 levels, built 12 years ago) shook quite seriously.

 

Some cupboard / cabinet doors opened a bit, nothing fell out of cupboards.

 

Front and back door of the house is now slightly misaligned to before the quake but both doors can be opened / locked etc. Many folks would probably not even notice the change in the doors.

 

Our village has 410 houses, one village committee member (farang) has shared that no houses were strongly affected in terms of walls etc., falling / separating from the main construction, no houses have any cracks. and our large swim pool has suffered no damage.

 

Our local BIG C and similar didn't close.

 

My Thai son says there's no reports of damage to roads or bridges in the CM city area. 

 

Further: Chiang Mai city is spread out across a large area. Perhaps other CM members can share their experience / observations on this subject.

[goatfarmer]

15 hours ago, MikeandDow said:

Thai Constuction  !!    there is No quality or safety in Thai construction   no standards in  design   design approval by coruption   so what do you expect !!

One building under construction collapses out of how many thousands of high rise buildings in Bangkok. I would have thought that proves that the standard is pretty good.

[NatureFilm]

I guess, millions are considering to sell their 20 million THB condo in BKK and move in a <deleted>ty little house to Pattaya

[Hatari fan]

Really terrible, it makes you wonder how a building like that could collapse so easily. 

Most of the people they say are trapped are obviously dead and those that are not easily rescued. 

A sad day for Thailand. 

[Aussie999]

15 hours ago, freedomnow said:

Did any other fully constructed high rise collapse in Thailand or only one that was in the process of being built ?

No news of any other collapses, but I suspect a lot more damage, due to poor building/construction/materials/etc... will be covered up with render, plaster, paint. Beware of any cheap condos going on sale...555

[Aussie999]

15 hours ago, steven100 said:

read the news.  i'm not your secretary

would it be so hard, to be helpful....if not, why even post.
He wasn't even replying to you.

[stupidfarang]

15 hours ago, MikeandDow said:

Read the news,    iam talking about Thai construction meaning bulding, roads, bridges ect   Thai consruction is in the dark ages !!

yet their roads are so much better than in the UK

[Aussie999]

1 minute ago, stupidfarang said:

yet their roads are so much better than in the UK

I think that depends on where you are... and how recently they were recovered.... they do not usually last long

[parallelman]

When 'mother nature' strikes...I hope those trapped inside managed to survive though with that vertical collapse it would seem unlikely. I suppose with the current political situation in Myanmar news from there will be slow.

[Aussie999]

14 hours ago, ravip said:

So how many 100's or 1000's of buildings collapsed today, according to your statistics? OR, is this the ONLY building constructed by Thai people?

Just asking, to share your expert knowledge.

just to remind you, the actual earthquake was 1400 kms away... Bangkok was lucky

[jvs]

There is so much hidden damage,it will take a long time and the costs will be staggering.

Is it only me or have other people noticed there seems to be a difference in damage between private and government buildings?

What about damage here?

[Aussie999]

12 hours ago, steven100 said:

      a Thai ask some outside for help     !!!!!!      your joking right.    because it will never happen

Yeah, I remember the tsunami, Thailand refused outside help... also refused qualitied farang divers, living in Phuket.

[stevenl]

1 minute ago, Aussie999 said:

Yeah, I remember the tsunami, Thailand refused outside help... also refused qualitied farang divers, living in Phuket.

Strange since we were out there diving, helping.

[Aussie999]

11 hours ago, Kevin_Beethoven said:

Gotta love US media: Today show leads with "Massive earthquake hits central Bangkok".
No mention of Myanmar. 

 

 

It's hard to get news from Myanmar, the military junta heavily restricts outside media.

[Aussie999]

10 hours ago, Patong2021 said:

 

Looks to me like the typical Pancake collapse. As one floor collapses onto the lower floor, the floor cannot support the weight and it in turn collapses. It is similar to the collapse of the  WTC twin towers  on 9/11.

watch again, no pancake... the whole structure seemed to collapse. 

[stupidfarang]

15 hours ago, MikeandDow said:

Thai Constuction  !!    there is No quality or safety in Thai construction   no standards in  design   design approval by coruption   so what do you expect !!

total rubbish, you really do not know what you are talking about.

[Aussie999]

7 minutes ago, stevenl said:

Strange since we were out there diving, helping.

Strange, my landlord, an ex-military diver, and voluntary Thai police, and  his qualified mates, were all refused... 

[robz]

10 hours ago, Denim said:

 

The main contractor for the project is ITD-CREC, a joint venture between Italian-Thai Development Plc and China Railway No 1 (Thailand).

( source BP newspaper)

 

Do you suppose the Mafia and Thaksin were working together to fill their pockets ?  I wonder who built all those skyscrapers in China ?

 

Italian-Thai :

 

17.2.2022
Three construction workers killed in Bangkok scaffold collapse

 

15.3.2025
Five killed, 22 injured in beam collapse on Rama II Road

 

 

[edwinchester]

12 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

 

It was 580km away and an estimated 4.5Mw Magnitude by the time the energy reached Bangkok (within approximately 1.5 minutes after the quake in Myanmar)

 

There can't be a quake in Chiang Mai or Kanchanaburi because its not on a plate boundary.

 

  This earthquake, in Myanmar was from the Sagaing Fault, which is a strike-slip (transform) fault where the Indian Plate and the Sunda Plate (or Burma Microplate) slide past each other horizontally.  

Kanchanaburi does have several fault lines, fortunately minor, along which quakes do happen. Biggest quake we had was a 5.5 maybe about 10 years ago. Centred on Sisawat up on the Burmese border. That one made the news as it also got the high-rise blocks in Bangkok swaying. Bangkok really does have a major problem being located in an area susceptible to liquefaction during a strong quake.

[MikeandDow]

2 minutes ago, stupidfarang said:

total rubbish, you really do not know what you are talking about.

And you do !!  I very much doubt it !!   Thai construction  is very much in the dark ages  No qualiy in construction, No safety,   Coruption !   workers on site in flip flops  and you are saying thats ok !! go get a life !