Photo: Bangkok Post

 

A US Military scanner has identified 70 potential signs of missing individuals within the rubble of the collapsed State Audit Office building in Bangkok. The collapsed sections between the 17th and 21st floors were the sites of intense focus as many of the missing were reportedly working there during Friday's earthquake.

 

Bangkok's deputy governor, Tavida Kamolvej, noted that of the 70 detected signs, only six have been confirmed as human bodies. The remainder are still unconfirmed amid the chaos of the collapsed multi-storey structure. With floors pancaked upon each other, identifying precise locations and navigating the debris pose significant challenges to rescue teams.

 

Rescuers face a daunting task. The 30-storey building was still under construction, which means there's no comprehensive blueprint to guide the rescue efforts. Excavation is painstakingly slow due to metre-thick walls and the precarious state of the site. Heavy machinery cannot be used safely, forcing workers to clear debris manually from the top down.

 

 

 

As the operation enters its fifth day, rescuers are continually adapting their strategies to maximise survival chances for those potentially trapped beneath the rubble. So far, the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration has confirmed 13 fatalities and 19 injuries, with many still unaccounted for.

 

The situation remains urgent and dynamic, as the rescue mission strives to bring closure and aid to those affected by the disaster, reported Bangkok Post.

 

-- 2025-04-01

 

 

Fingers crossed survivors can be found and rescued.

5 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

The 30-storey building was still under construction, which means there's no comprehensive blueprint to guide the rescue efforts.

What the mutha-<deleted> <deleted>??

15 minutes ago, Peabody said:

What the mutha-fckn fck??

its a mistake in the news post  of course there is a comprehensive blueprint  how else would you build

One building for f.. sake. They should’ve cleared it in one day instead of walking around with phones taking videos of it. 

11 hours ago, Peabody said:

What the mutha-<deleted> <deleted>??

Chinese caught removing documents, plans. Released but the cops have the paper, reams of it as shown on a news channel. 

18 minutes ago, AustinRacing said:

One building for f.. sake. They should’ve cleared it in one day instead of walking around with phones taking videos of it. 

What a sick post.

They were looking for possible survivers/body recovery.

1 hour ago, rough diamond said:

What a sick post.

They were looking for possible survivers/body recovery.

Ok let me explain it slowly. Grab truckloads of people, start removing debris immediately, increase chance of recovering alive people. Instead of forming committees to discuss, walk around taking photos (I’ve seen this myself. People in uniform). It’s only one building. Not hard to do. Days later progressing slowly instead of actually doing stuff. 

Just now, AustinRacing said:

Ok let me explain it slowly. Grab truckloads of people, start removing debris immediately, increase chance of recovering alive people. Instead of forming committees to discuss, walk around taking photos (I’ve seen this myself. People in uniform). It’s only one building. Not hard to do. Days later progressing slowly instead of actually doing stuff. 

That is the Thai way form a committee have a free lunch and do nothing !!  instead of as you say grab truck loads of people and shift it, they are now saying they need special gear,  is a shovel special gear, because the danger of cave in ?? ok as you get close easy off but these trapped  people can not wait

16 minutes ago, AustinRacing said:

Ok let me explain it slowly. Grab truckloads of people, start removing debris immediately, increase chance of recovering alive people. Instead of forming committees to discuss, walk around taking photos (I’ve seen this myself. People in uniform). It’s only one building. Not hard to do. Days later progressing slowly instead of actually doing stuff. 

 

Did you say days later...

 

People should stop saying this a rescue mission.....That was pretty much over a few days ago..

13 hours ago, Peabody said:

What the mutha-<deleted> <deleted>??

Right?! Any construction project I’ve ever been involved has extremely detailed and comprehensive blueprints/plans. 
Go figure 

2 hours ago, Colabamumbai said:

Chinese caught removing documents, plans. Released but the cops have the paper, reams of it as shown on a news channel. 

Ah gotcha. Making sense now. Thank you 🙏 

I heard yesterday that it's not a search and rescue anymore. 

It's now a cleanup which is a very different technique and likely to result in no more survivors being found. 

I'm still baffled by how a building 1200kms from the epicentre can fall 🤔 

Chiang Mai had some water overflow swimming pools and that's all. 

Just now, QPRFC said:

I heard yesterday that it's not a search and rescue anymore. 

It's now a cleanup which is a very different technique and likely to result in no more survivors being found. 

I'm still baffled by how a building 1200kms from the epicentre can fall 🤔 

Chiang Mai had some water overflow swimming pools and that's all. 

Coruption !! 

2 hours ago, AustinRacing said:

Ok let me explain it slowly. Grab truckloads of people, start removing debris immediately, increase chance of recovering alive people. Instead of forming committees to discuss, walk around taking photos (I’ve seen this myself. People in uniform). It’s only one building. Not hard to do. Days later progressing slowly instead of actually doing stuff. 

 

Right after the photo ops of all the bigwigs in their shiny new suits with hardhats on are finished, priorities my friend, priorities.

2 hours ago, QPRFC said:

I heard yesterday that it's not a search and rescue anymore. 

It's now a cleanup which is a very different technique and likely to result in no more survivors being found. 

I'm still baffled by how a building 1200kms from the epicentre can fall 🤔 

Chiang Mai had some water overflow swimming pools and that's all. 

 

When you build a house of cards, any vibration will make it collapse.

3 hours ago, Trevor Collins said:

5 hours ago, QPRFC said:

I heard yesterday that it's not a search and rescue anymore. 

It's now a cleanup which is a very different technique and likely to result in no more survivors being found. 

I'm still baffled by how a building 1200kms from the epicentre can fall 🤔 

Chiang Mai had some water overflow swimming pools and that's all. 

 

When you build a house of cards, any vibration will make it collapse.

 

My comments - pasted from another thread.

 

Bangkok sits on a different Geological setting than much of Thailand - it young soft sedimentary basin of softer rock...   when a quake passes through the earths hard core, it is amplified in this basin setting - much like shaking a bowl of jelly, whereas the energy in other geological settings has been dissipated.

 

Seismologists sometimes call this problem the "Mexico City Effect" and Bangkok is often used as another example in modern textbooks because the physics are almost the same .

 

As a comparison this what the substrata of major Thai cities is made up of: 

 

Bangkok:

Age of Sediment: Holocene (up to 10,000 years old)

Characteristics: Soft clay, young alluvial deposits, thick layers (over 100 meters)

Stability: Low (high seismic amplification)

 

Pattaya:

Age of Rocks: Mesozoic (65–250 million years old)

Characteristics: Sandstone, siltstone, shale, crystalline basement rocks, igneous intrusions

Stability: Moderate (more stable than Bangkok)

 

Kanchanaburi:

Age of Rocks: Paleozoic to Mesozoic (250–540 million years old)

Characteristics: Limestone, sandstone, shale, igneous and metamorphic rocks

Stability: High (geologically stable)

 

Hua Hin:

Age of Rocks: Paleozoic to Mesozoic (65–540 million years old)

Characteristics: Sandstone, limestone, granite intrusions

Stability: High (less risk of seismic amplification)

 

Khon Kaen:

Age of Rocks: Mesozoic (65–250 million years old)

Characteristics: Sandstone, shale, siltstone (Khorat Plateau)

Stability: Moderate (stable foundation compared to Bangkok)

 

Chiang Mai:

Age of Rocks: Paleozoic to Mesozoic (65–540 million years old)

Characteristics: Igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary rocks, including granite, schist, and limestone

Stability: High (rugged, mountainous terrain with hard rock base)

 

 

To avoid any comments that there is blame against Thailand that its capital was 'built' on a poor geological setting' consider ancient settlement theory, access to shipping, lowest bridging points etc...  and the fact that at the time little was known of quakes or the area's geological setting.

 

There are plenty of other major cities around the world are that at similar or greater 'amplification risk' from an earthquake due to their geological settings.

 

 

Los Angeles, USA: Located on the Los Angeles Basin (soft alluvial sediments); ~50 km from the Pacific-North American Plate boundary (San Andreas Fault).

Salt Lake City, USA: Situated on soft lake bed sediments from ancient Lake Bonneville; ~400 km from the Intermountain Seismic Belt (within the North American Plate).

Seattle, USA: Built on the Seattle Basin (soft alluvial and sedimentary layers); ~100 km from the Juan de Fuca-North American Plate boundary (Cascadia Subduction Zone).

Santiago, Chile: Located in the Santiago Basin (soft sedimentary deposits); ~100 km from the Nazca-South American Plate boundary.

Quito, Ecuador: Built on soft volcanic ash deposits and sedimentary basins; ~200 km from the Nazca-South American Plate boundary.

Athens, Greece: Built on soft alluvial deposits in some areas; ~100 km from the Hellenic Arc (African-Eurasian Plate) boundary.

Istanbul, Turkey: Partly located on soft, young sediments near the Sea of Marmara; ~20 km from the North Anatolian Fault (Eurasian-Anatolian Plate boundary).

Kathmandu, Nepal: Situated in the Kathmandu Valley (soft ancient lake sediments); ~50 km from the Indian-Eurasian Plate boundary (Himalayan Frontal Thrust).

Tehran, Iran: Built on alluvial deposits and loose sediments from nearby mountains; ~100 km from the Arabian-Eurasian Plate boundary (Zagros Fold and Thrust Belt).

Tokyo, Japan: Located in the Kanto Basin (soft sedimentary layers); ~100 km from the Pacific-Eurasian-Philippine Sea Plate junction.

Taipei, Taiwan: Built on the Taipei Basin (thick sedimentary deposits); ~50 km from the Eurasian-Philippine Sea Plate boundary.

Shanghai, China: Located on soft deltaic sediments from the Yangtze River; ~1,200 km from the Pacific-Eurasian Plate boundary (Japan Trench).

Wellington, New Zealand: Built on soft alluvial sediments and reclaimed land; ~30 km from the Pacific-Australian Plate boundary (Wellington Fault).

Cairo, Egypt: Partly built on Nile Delta sediments (soft, unconsolidated deposits); ~1,000 km from the African-Arabian Plate boundary (Red Sea Rift).

 

6 hours ago, QPRFC said:

I'm still baffled by how a building 1200kms from the epicentre can fall 🤔 

Chiang Mai had some water overflow swimming pools and that's all. 

 

The quake in Bangkok was significantly amplified by the subsurface geology. 

 

The geology of Chiang Mai and most other area's of Thailand is significantly different, older, harder, the energy dissipated - the localised magnitude of the quake in Chiang Mai was significantly less than Bangkok.