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The earthquake was only a 6.1. Some of the people killed, apparently, lived in new buildings, as well. What's with China building such substandard buildings, especially in a very seismically active region? At least 367 killed in a 6.1 earthquake. If this happened in Taiwan or Japan, the number would be at or close to 0 dead
Ummm well I don't think you can measure the damage of earthquake like this.The magnitude was 6.1,but it was not deep,so the actual intensity was probably much higher than a 6.1,thus many casualties.
But the quality of their buildings could be an important factor as well,and I agree with you if something like this happened in Taiwan or Japan the number would be much much lower.We are just very used to earthquakes,I wouldn't even move a finger if a minor earthquake took place.
The earthquake was only a 6.1. Some of the people killed, apparently, lived in new buildings, as well. What's with China building such substandard buildings, especially in a very seismically active region? At least 367 killed in a 6.1 earthquake. If this happened in Taiwan or Japan, the number would be at or close to 0 dead
China is just cheap. Just low quality everything.
My guess is there is so much corruption, that things aren't enforced properly. On top of that, you have to bid low to get the contracts to develop things, which means cutting more corners, and on and on.
China's earthquakes awareness is not as strong as those countries of the Pacific Rim of Fire.
Devastating earthquakes could happen in places like Tangshan in Hebei Province, with very few earthquakes in the past. Yunnan and Sichuan are not close to the border of the plates. Minor earthquakes are not as common in Japan, Taiwan and Indonesia, public education and prepareness is not good.
Basically China is still poor, poorer than Japan and Taiwan. Death tolls like this are typical for countries where mod buildings aren't 'earthquake proof.'
That last devastating earthquake in New Zealand was one of those earthquakes that struck close to the surface, and given the damage, this is no poor country!
That last devastating earthquake in New Zealand was one of those earthquakes that struck close to the surface, and given the damage, this is no poor country!
New Zealand is nowhere near as earthquake-prone as the Asian nations like Japan and Taiwan,so of course people and administration over there were less prepared.In Japan,the technology of earthquake prediction is probably 30 years ahead of any other countries in the world.
But yes the depth of the earthquake is a very important factor.
As others mentioned, it's the poor quality of construction that is the biggest issue. That is a very poor part of China (as most areas are outside of the biggest coastal cities) so the situation is even worse. But even in the richer cities, lots of corners are cut, things are built as cheaply as possible to save money- even if it means breaking the law on building standards. My wife's family who live back there in Guangzhou talk about this all the time- buildings that are brand new will have concrete crumbling and cracking within the first year or two sometimes, and those buildings are almost unlivable within ten years. And you hear about nice new bridges built that crack or even collapse due to substandard concrete being used or corners being cut in other areas of the construction process. It's really kind of the wild west over there where the government does put some regulations or codes in place but those are often times not followed, where builders do whatever they want to save as much money as possible with no real concern for how it will affect the people.
I don't want to be rude, but this seems like a pretty meanspirited topic.
I don't mean to be rude, either, but that's Moderator cut: the problem. Pointing out that China has a habit of building deathtraps in earthquake-prone areas is not being "meanspirited". It's meanspirited that people needlessly died because corners were cut, and regulations were not followed
Quote:
Strong earthquakes are reasonably common in Yunnan, and bordering Sichuan; the area within 500 km of the August 3 earthquake has hosted 27 other earthquakes of M 6 or above over the past century. Earthquakes here are also often damaging and deadly, as a result of the high vulnerability of most residential structures in this dominantly agricultural province.
Last edited by Oldhag1; 08-08-2014 at 01:36 PM..
Reason: Inappropriate.
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