Earthquake fright

8.8 tremor would destroy 70% of Kgn’s buildings, say engineers

BY PATRICK FOSTER Observer writer fosterp@jamaicaobserver.com

Tuesday, March 02, 2010

SEVENTY per cent of structures in the Corporate Area would be seriously damaged or destroyed if an 8.8 magnitude earthquake, similar to that which hit Chile over the weekend, was to strike the capital city, members of the Jamaica Institution of Engineers (JIE) warned yesterday.

"People might be saying most of our houses are made of block and steel [but] one of the big issues is that the foundation in some of the houses is sometimes non-existent," JIE member Noel DaCosta said.

"No matter how strong the superstructure is, it is just not the same," he said.

The engineers' comments came in the aftermath of the 8.8 magnitude earthquake that hit the town of Concepción in Chile over the weekend killing an estimated 700 people.

"It really depends on the epicentre and focal point, if we take the same intensity it would be about 60 to 70 per cent destruction," JIE president David Chung concurred.

Chung, however, argued that it was not "all gloom" as the JIE was "here to take us out of the situation".

JIE executive members were guests at the Observer's weekly Monday Exchange meeting of reporters and editors held at the newspaper's Beechwood Avenue head office.

DaCosta, chairman of the JIE Building Code Committee, said that despite widespread feeling to the contrary, the legal building code in Jamaica is 102 years old, crafted one year after the earthquake that destroyed Kingston in 1907.

He said that in 1983 an effort was made to develop a revised building code but that was not completed, ending up only as a policy document.

"It was not made mandatory, people could or not use it as they feel like, which does not auger well for the integrity of buildings," DaCosta said.

Speaking on the promulgation of a new building code, DaCosta said that work, which began in 2003, was now complete and awaiting action

from Parliament.

According to DaCosta, this new code, which he termed a gift from the JIE to the Government, was crafted through voluntary input of 108 engineers locally and overseas and is estimated to cost $260 million.

"Our thrust now is to get a building pact that will enshrine the use of the building code," he said. "Unless it is made mandatory we will be back to where we were in 1983."

DaCosta, however, voiced reservations about the speed at which passing the document is being addressed by the authorities.

"It hasn't even gone to Cabinet for a submission to be made," he said.

The engineer, displeased about the delay, said that the JIE invited representatives from Government to work in conjunction with them when drafting commenced seven years ago to ensure that both technical and legal work would be completed together.

"We have finished the technical work and the legal work is still left," DaCosta said yesterday.

In the meantime, DaCosta said that varying building codes are being used in local construction, depending on the people doing the work.

Developers, such as those doing the Spanish hotels, he contended, would quite likely adhere to standards of their country.

"You might find a hotel built using the European code, there is no exact determination of what code is being used," DaCosta said. He added, however, that retrofitting was possible in addressing some of the problems that might arise from faulty construction.

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Earthquake fright