Top heavy houses in danger during big quakes

UP geology professor Mario Aurelio has said that the 33,000 casualty estimate in case a major earthquake hits Metro Manila would be mainly from residential areas, GMA News reported.

Aurelio pointed out that every area within a 10-kilometer radius of a fault line would be affected by high-frequency shaking in case of a temblor, resulting to collapsed structures.

He said that low-rise structures such as houses sway faster compared to buildings. For this reason, the Metro Manila Impact Reduction Study (MMEIRS) states that buildings are generally safe compared to houses, he added.

Aurelio warned that houses that do not have supporting walls on the ground floor are particularly in danger of falling down because the beams and posts are not inter-connected.

Morever, Aurelio said that such houses which appear like they are on stilts would also have to contend with being top heavy, thus in danger of falling down.

The earthquake and volcano bureau PHIVOLCS has recently released a map showing the active fault lines in Metro Manila, thereby intensifying interest in what can be done in the event of an earthquake. -end-               

Image by GMA news