Sumatra quake danger to S'pore, Malaysia
Sumatra quake danger to S'pore, Malaysia
SINGAPORE (AFP): Skyscrapers in Singapore and Kuala Lumpur would be at risk if a large temblor were to hit the Indonesian island of Sumatra, which is vulnerable to earthquakes, an expert warned in remarks published yesterday.
Pan Tso-Chien, an associate engineering professor at Nanyang Technological University here, said there seemed to be a "total lack of recognition of earthquake risks" in this city-state and the Malaysian capital.
Building codes in Singapore and Kuala Lumpur had no earthquake provisions although they are situated about 300-400 kilometers from the quake-prone Great Sumatra Fault which runs the entire length of Sumatra, he reportedly said.
The fault is capable of producing a large earthquake measuring eight or more on the open-ended Richter scale, Business Times daily quoted Pan as saying Wednesday at a seminar on catastrophic risk management here.
"If such an earthquake should happen, tall buildings in Kuala Lumpur and Singapore could possibly be adversely affected," the expert said.
Pan, who teaches earthquake engineering, said because of high population density Southeast Asians were subjected to "some degree of earthquake hazard, " more than in other parts of the world.
"Over 200 million people live in an area in which there is at least one great earthquake every decade, a large earthquake every year and perhaps a thousand small earthquakes, some of which cause damage every year.
"The risk is not just to life but also to investments of thousands of millions of dollars in commercial, industrial and domestic developments," he warned.
Indonesia and the Philippines were more quake-prone than other countries in the region so there was greater interest in the two countries in controlling earthquake risks, Pan said.
Business Times said Singapore insurers were concerned about the frequency of earthquakes in the region. The General Insurance Association of Singapore was conducting a preliminary study on earthquake risks here, it said.