TAIPEI, Taiwan — The magnitude 7.7 earthquake that struck Myanmar on Friday has killed greater than 1,600 folks and injured greater than 3,400 and was felt so far as Thailand, Laos and southern China.
The earthquake originated close to Mandalay, Myanmar’s second-largest metropolis of about 1.5 million, from rubbing tectonic plates alongside the Sagaing fault, which runs via the middle of the nation. Greater than 600 miles away in Bangkok, the Thai capital, buildings bucked. Rescue efforts within the area have been hampered by collapsed buildings and bridges and roads that now lead nowhere, and aftershocks proceed to maintain residents on edge.
The catastrophe has — not surprisingly — raised questions on earthquake preparedness in Southeast Asia and farther afield in locations resembling Taiwan, which is famous for being very proactive, and California, which is within the midst of an earthquake “drought.”
The Instances spoke with Nurul Alam, a resilient infrastructure specialist who labored on the Asian Catastrophe Preparedness Heart in Bangkok, about what the aftermath signifies about catastrophe preparedness in Asia and past.
Rescuers work on the website of a high-rise constructing underneath development in Bangkok that collapsed after the magnitude 7.7 earthquake in neighboring Myanmar.
(Sakchai Lalit / Related Press)
How ready was Myanmar for the earthquake?
In 2014, Alam carried out seismic threat assessments in Mandalay, close to the epicenter of the latest earthquake. Given the town’s geographic proximity to a serious fault line, his workforce had advisable that the federal government replace its constructing codes to make constructions extra resilient and enhance seismic contingency planning.
“I imagine if they’d have adopted the suggestions, there would have been much less bother now, however I don’t assume that that occurred,” he stated. “It was already dangerous. The buildings had been susceptible over there in any case, and other people knew that this is able to come.”
Rescuers seek for survivors of the 7.7 earthquake in Naypyidaw, Myanmar.
(Aung Shine Oo / Related Press)
Myanmar can be notably susceptible on condition that the nation has been embroiled in civil warfare since 2021. Hundreds of thousands of individuals have been displaced, and authorities and medical infrastructure has been crippled. Though info from Myanmar is tightly managed by the ruling navy junta, assist employees and scientific organizations estimate the devastation to be huge.
How ready was Thailand for the earthquake?
Thailand up to date its earthquake constructing codes in 2007 and launched new rules on seismic-resistant design in 2021. A lot of the constructing injury from Friday’s quake was nonstructural, hitting partition partitions, fixtures, electrical energy and plumbing, Alam stated. Structural beams, columns and slabs held up, regardless of excessive shaking and swaying of some high-rises.
That signifies to Alam that Thailand has excessive compliance with its constructing codes. Nonetheless, he stated it appeared that residents weren’t effectively ready by way of reply and that contingency planning may assist alleviate disruptions to roads and public companies. “What’s commendable in Thailand is that no matter is within the constructing code, I believe a lot of the constructions adopted the code, and that’s why the devastation was not that top,” he stated.
Greater than a dozen folks died in Bangkok because of the earthquake, and one 30-story constructing underneath development collapsed. Efforts to search out about 80 lacking individuals are ongoing.
How does the response examine with different locations in Asia?
Typically areas with extra earthquakes have stronger constructing codes and contingency plans, so they’re much less affected by severe tremors, Alam stated. Japan, for instance, has strict seismic codes and early warning techniques attributable to frequent earthquakes.
Taiwan, one other earthquake-prone island, takes related precautions, which helped mitigate demise and injury final 12 months throughout its strongest earthquake in 1 / 4 of a century. The magnitude 7.4 temblor, which may very well be felt so far as Shanghai, killed about 18 folks. A day earlier than the earthquake in Myanmar, Taiwan’s authorities staged civil protection drills on how to reply to a serious catastrophe.
Some nations, Alam stated, may do extra to organize.
Demolition work is underway at a constructing collapsed by a strong earthquake in Hualien Metropolis, Taiwan, in April 2024.
(Suo Takekuma / Related Press)
Turkey, which skilled a magnitude 7.8 temblor in 2023, has stronger earthquake codes than Bangkok, he defined, however decrease compliance by way of development. He stated buildings are additionally extra susceptible in India, Nepal and Bangladesh. One threat evaluation he labored on in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, estimated that about 70,000 constructions or buildings would collapse from an earthquake of comparable magnitude.
What does this imply for earthquake-prone locations resembling California?
California would in all probability fare higher in an earthquake than many Asian nations due to its expertise with pure disasters and its sturdy constructing codes and compliance, Alam stated. He added that areas at excessive threat of earthquakes within the U.S. additionally follow drills extra steadily than locations resembling Bangkok.
“California’s seismic historical past has really paved the way in which for all this info that we have now proper now,” Alam stated. “I believe Bangkok ought to study from them.”
Los Angeles has touted its sweeping earthquake security ordinance — the nation’s hardest, which requires hundreds of buildings to be evaluated and strengthened if obligatory. In 2015, the town handed a landmark regulation requiring an estimated 15,000 buildings be retrofitted so they may higher stand up to violent shaking, and in 2022, The Instances reported that greater than 8,000 seismically susceptible buildings had been retrofitted throughout the town at an estimated value of $1.3 billion. Final 12 months, nonetheless, The Instances reported that L.A.’s constructing retrofit information have been outdated for years.
Buildings collapsed onto automobiles through the Northridge earthquake in 1994.
(U.S. Geological Survey)
What else can cities do to raised put together?
Alam stated detailed seismic hazard and threat assessments will help decide whether or not the requirements for setting up new buildings should be improved. These surveys needs to be executed early, he stated, as a result of it will probably take years to alter constructing codes, that are usually up to date by the federal government each 5 years.
Current infrastructure may also be retrofitted to make the susceptible buildings extra resilient, notably people who have already been broken by earthquakes. Normally the retrofitting value falls inside 30% of the entire reconstruction value, he stated, and it may be executed in phases to maintain the power in use.
“You can’t cease earthquakes, proper? You possibly can solely be protected the place we make our constructions and our different amenities stronger and retrofitted towards these sort of disasters,” Alam stated.
He stated that whereas seismic points acquired a number of consideration at first of the century, issues in regards to the results of local weather change started to overshadow them a couple of decade in the past.
“It’s on the again shelf. No one actually is nervous about it till there are massive earthquakes taking place. It’s not solely in Thailand, it’s really all all over the world,” he stated. “This could be a wake-up name for governments.”
