'Buildings in Malaysia quake-proof'

'Buildings in Malaysia quake-proof'
NST 11/4/2005 Jaswinder Kaur

KOTA KINABALU, Apr 10:

Buildings in Malaysia will be able to withstand an earthquake unless the contractors cut corners during construction, Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) deputy vice- chancellor Datuk Prof Dr Sahol Hamid Abu Bakar said.

Speaking at a public lecture on "Tsunami: Waves of Destruction" yesterday, he said 95 per cent of earthquakes occur at plate boundaries.

As Malaysia is far away from such seismic zones, earthquakes will have less impact on buildings in the country.

"It's like shaking a carpet," he said.

"At the point where you pull it, the ripples will be big, but by the time the ripples reach the edge of the carpet, they will be small.

"When earthquakes happen on the west coast of Sumatra, for instance, we feel the impact in the peninsula but the magnitude is much lower.

"We have certain standards in constructing buildings and as long as contractors comply with these rules, we should be all right.

"Once contractors start cutting corners by using more sand instead of concrete, buildings could become unsafe in the event of a major earthquake at plate boundaries."

He said earthquakes in countries such as Iran and Turkey destroyed buildings and claimed many lives because there was no reinforcement in construction, as in other earthquake- prone areas such as Japan.