While it is sad to see exuberant unreinforced masonry buildings crumble, since they generally can't be rebuilt after such a quake, I am still stunned that many modern high rises totally failed. Such investment in structure is usually protected quite well by very, very conservative building standards. Once you spend tens of millions on a multi storey building, what's another $1 million to make it last twice as long?
One would assume seismic requirements were not as tough as Japan's. The swaying skyscrapers in Tokyo is costly but makes for great video. It would be also be interesting if something like outdated soil analyses practices were at fault, or if building inspections during construction were never done in the last couple decades.
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Date: 2011-03-27 01:18 pm (UTC)One would assume seismic requirements were not as tough as Japan's. The swaying skyscrapers in Tokyo is costly but makes for great video. It would be also be interesting if something like outdated soil analyses practices were at fault, or if building inspections during construction were never done in the last couple decades.