EDITORIAL - Revisiting the Building Code

As of yesterday, the official death toll had topped 28,000 as more bodies were found following the powerful earthquake on Feb. 6 that devastated parts of Turkey and Syria. Officials are reportedly looking into building safety standards in the earthquake-hit areas as experts noted that the areas have not experienced a powerful earthquake in 200 years.

Many structures cannot withstand a magnitude 7.8 earthquake followed by hundreds of aftershocks, which hit the devastated areas. The Philippines saw this first-hand when an earthquake of the same magnitude shook Luzon in the afternoon of July 16, 1990. Buildings also crumpled from Nueva Ecija to Baguio City, killing over a thousand people. Roads cracked and ground liquefaction swallowed up several structures.

Seeing the images of crumpled buildings and ruined public infrastructure, Philippine senators are reportedly eyeing amendments to the National Building Code, Republic Act 6541, which was enacted way back in August 1972. RA 6541 was passed with powerful earthquakes in mind: on Aug. 2, 1968, a magnitude 7.3 earthquake centered in Casiguran, Aurora rocked Luzon, toppling the Ruby Tower in Manila and burying at least 268 people who were mostly still asleep in the building.

Building safety standards updated over the years along with repeated warnings from seismologists have prompted property developers to introduce construction interventions that help make structures particularly new high-rises resilient to earthquakes. The head of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology has said that single- or two-story but older structures might be even more at risk of serious damage than new high-rise buildings in case the so-called “Big One” hits Metro Manila and neighboring areas.

The Big One from the West Valley Fault is projected to be at magnitude 7.2. Phivolcs officials have said there are sufficient building safety standards to reduce the risk of earthquake damage. Much will depend, however, on compliance with building safety standards.

Owners of private homes can consult engineers to check the structural integrity of their houses. As lawmakers review the 50-year-old National Building Code for updating, a more urgent task is to ensure compliance with safety standards set by law, particularly in buildings housing offices or businesses  that cater to the public.