THE series of earthquakes that rocked the country in the past few weeks has brought a renewed sense of urgency to prepare ourselves in the eventuality of a strong quake and to reassess whether our homes and offices are indeed safe.
The first major earthquake occurred on the evening of April 4, the epicenter of which was on the coast of Batangas and with a magnitude of 5.5. Then, on April 8, more strong earthquakes occurred in the province. The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology recorded the strongest earthquake as having a magnitude of 6.
Although, according to Phivolcs, these tremors were not in any way related to the infamous West Valley Fault, the movement of which was pegged as the possible cause of the “Big One”, these tremors still effectively renewed the public’s general fear of earthquakes.
We now see an increased fervor for posting earthquake reminders and infographics in social media. We see earthquake drills once again being done. We see families putting together disaster kits for their homes and cars—something they have been putting off doing for the longest time.
Whose fault is it?
The increasing awareness of earthquakes was also triggered by the recent publication of the Valley Fault System Atlas, led by the Phivocs, with funding from the Australian Aid and the United Nations Development Program.
According to this particular report, two faults intersect with the major cities of Metro Manila. The West Valley Fault traverses the cities of Marikina, Quezon, Pasig, Taguig, Makati, Mandaluyong and Muntinlupa. The other one is the Manila Trench, an underwater fault that lies off the coast of Manila Bay. According to Phivolcs, the movement of the Manila Trench was what caused the recent Batangas earthquakes.
Although earthquakes cannot really be foreseen, and we really do not know when that Big One will hit, if ever it does, it still doesn’t really hurt to be prepared.
The developers’ job
The hard truth in earthquake readiness is that, despite our own efforts at being ready for such an eventuality, much of the outcome depends on the structure that we are physically in when the Big One strikes. In other words, so much depends on the structural integrity of the building, condo unit, or house we are occupying when an earthquake hits.
Property developers know this all too well, and this is why most developers have done their part to ensure that their buildings are structurally engineered to withstand relatively strong quakes and mitigate their possible catastrophic impact.
Take Daiichi Properties, for instance, one of the leading office-space developers in the country. The company’s three newest office developments, all located in Bonifacio Global City in Taguig, are earthquake-ready. Daiichi Properties did performance-based seismic testing for the buildings, employing expert structural engineering consultants like Magnusson Klemencic Associates (MKA) and Thornton Tomasetti to do the job.
Performance-based seismic design is a new methodology pioneered by MKA, a world-renowned structural and civil engineering consulting firm based Seattle. It allows the engineering team to determine the appropriate levels of ground motion and performance objectives for the building and the non-structural components, so that it meets the country’s Building Code. Performance-based testing has aided, and even transformed, the structural design of tall buildings in regions of high seismicity like the Philippines.
Another property developer, Rockwell Land, had its buildings constructed to withstand up to an intensity-9 earthquake, which was beyond what was mandated by the local building code, which only required structures to withstand intensity 8 quakes.
Arthaland, in turn, has taken a different route to earthquake-readiness. The company selects their development sites carefully to make sure that their projects are nowhere near the fault lines. On top of this, Arthaland engineers regularly revisit all the necessary seismic details and structural elements to secure their buildings’ integrity.
Following the code
The good news is that many local property developers have been conscientious in complying with the National Building Code, sometimes even going beyond the minimum requirements. Sadly, many low-rise and residential buildings around the country, even in Metro Manila, did not employ the construction standards set by law and may, thus, be heavily affected by a strong earthquake. Many of these were not built and designed by licensed engineers and had no permits, even using substandard materials.
I believe that the government should start being strict in cracking down on construction projects that do not abide by the building code. It is the task of the engineering offices of our local government units to ensure that the National Building Code is implemented in every single construction. Moreover, it is high time that the government comes up with a system of stress-testing to check whether existing houses and buildings can withstand strong quakes and then act upon their findings accordingly.
I cannot stress enough the fact that, even if people themselves are personally prepared to tackle earthquakes and the subsequent aftermath, much of what will happen depends on the structural integrity of the buildings they are occupying the moment a tremor happens.
Considering this, a huge part of being ready for the Big One is mobilizing both the private and the public sectors to check and ensure the safety of our structures. A disaster-response plan is simply not enough. What we need is a more proactive determinant and assurance of public safety.
The Big One may or may not happen. But I have always been an advocate of overpreparation. It doesn’t hurt to overprepare, it only makes us better equipped, physically and mentally, to handle any eventuality.
All of these remind me of a line Salman Rushdie wrote in his novel The Ground Beneath Her Feet. “Once you have been in an earthquake you know, even if you survive without a scratch, which is like a stroke in, the heart, it remains in the earth’s breast, horribly potential, always promising to return, to hit you again, with an even more devastating force.”
Then again, if we are prepared, we would be ready for anything.
Image credits: https://www.ibtimes.co.in, redcrosschat.org