Building owners tight-lipped on quake damage<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Managements of high rise buildings tend to be
\nclosed mouthed about damage caused in the earthquakes Monday, a
\ncity construction consultant said.<\/p>\n
A member of the city's advisory team on building construction
\nsaid yesterday this was holding up the listing of quake damage.<\/p>\n
"It will cause a loss to the managements themselves if they
\nare not open about damage," H.R. Sijabat said. The city's team
\ncould not give the appropriate recommendations on repairs were
\nwithout reports from managements, he said.<\/p>\n
"We only have media reports about which buildings were
\ndamaged, and we are checking them now," he said.<\/p>\n
Jakarta is ranked fourth, in terms of danger, in Indonesia's
\nsix earthquake zones, the first is Irian Jaya, so another
\nearthquake is likely to be moderate.<\/p>\n
But he said records showed Jakarta was hit by a stronger
\nearthquake in 1903. Experts at the Geophysical and Meteorological
\nAgency say earthquakes cannot be predicted.<\/p>\n
Following the earthquake that struck around 3:05 p.m. Monday,
\nseveral buildings including a hotel, an apartment, two banks and
\nprivate office buildings, reportedly had cracks.<\/p>\n
Sijabat estimated that less than 10 percent of Jakarta's at
\nleast 300 high-rise buildings were damaged.<\/p>\n
"But the earthquake on Monday should not have even caused
\ncracks," Sijabat said. In a similar tone Wiratman Wangsadinata,
\nanother member of the advisory team, had said the quake would
\nhave to be 15 times the intensity of Monday's quake for buildings
\nto be near collapse point.<\/p>\n
The epicenter of the quake, measuring 6 on the Richter scale,
\nwas 300 kilometers south west of here and 33 kilometers under the
\nIndian Ocean. In Jakarta the intensity, recorded at four to five
\nModified Mercalli Intensity, should only have caused rattling
\nfurniture, swaying lamps, moving parked cars and other minor
\neffects.<\/p>\n
Design<\/p>\n
Sijabat and Wiratman said all Jakarta's buildings were
\ndesigned to withstand far worse quakes. The first regulations
\nenforcing earthquake proof design were issued in 1972 and were
\nrevised several times to 1987.<\/p>\n
"If there are deep cracks in buildings from Monday's tremors
\nthere must be something wrong with their construction," Sijabat
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
All buildings, especially the high-rise ones, should have met
\nthe standard earthquake safety requirements in their construction
\nplans before the construction permit was issued.<\/p>\n
Sijabat refused to say yesterday whether there were any
\nindications of corruption by officials in charge of issuing the
\npermits.<\/p>\n
The advisory team is in charge of checking all proposed
\nbuilding designs prior to the issuing of building permits.<\/p>\n
"What is important is that building managements are willing to
\nrepair and improve their structures," he said.<\/p>\n
Building inhabitants and the public would also feel more
\nsecure if managements were open and they knew improvements were
\nbeing made, Sijabat said.<\/p>\n
Because of the closed behavior of managements, Sijabat said he
\ncould not say when the team would complete their inventory, and
\nwhether it could be publicly announced.<\/p>\n
The earthquake in Kobe, Japan, in January 1995, caused more
\nthan 5,000 deaths, mainly because building owners had been too
\nlazy to improve their buildings, he said. This was in spite of
\nalready having had expert's recommendations to do so, and despite
\nliving in an earthquake-prone area, he said.<\/p>\n
Wiratman said Thursday the city should have all its old
\nbuildings checked, particularly those built before 1971.<\/p>\n
Sijabat noted several old buildings proved to have withstood
\nearthquakes. The oldest buildings on Jl. M.H. Thamrin include
\nHotel Indonesia and Wisma Nusantara.<\/p>\n
He said earthquake-resistant building plans should pay
\nattention to symmetry among columns and the ratio of a building's
\nwidth and length. If a building collapses in an earthquake, the
\ndesign regulations ensure that the building collapses in such a
\nway that survivors should be able to be pulled out alive, and
\nlifts should automatically switch off at the first tremor,
\nSijabat said. (anr)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/building-owners-tight-lipped-on-quake-damage-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}