Filipino homes are safe from quakes

FILIPINO homes are generally safe from earthquakes as long as they follow the prescribed guidelines of the National Building Code, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) said Thursday.

This is based on results of the laboratory testing conducted on February 24 in Tsukuba, Japan, which was conducted by the Japan’s National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disater Prevention and Phivolcs.

Director Renato Solidum Jr., of Phivolcs said that the test, which uses house models on top of a shaking table, were able to determine that Philippine masonry houses that follow the require size of concrete hallow blocks and reinforcing bars can perform well during a strong earthquake similar to a 6.9-magnitude tremor.

Masonry houses are structures with no structural beams and columns, which are common among low-cost housing projects in the Philippines.

Solidum said that the test clearly shows the importance of following the building code and using construction materials that pass quality standards because there are no shortcuts to safety.

The need for strong homes and buildings came in the wake of the 6.3-magnitude earthquake that recently rocked Christchurch as well as the series of quakes in Japan on Wednesday and the magnitude 5.2 in the northern Philippines.

Solidum, however, made it clear that although these incidents are frequent it is also important to note that there is nothing usual with it because earthquakes are common in Japan and New Zealand.

Even the Philippines is no stranger to strong earthquakes in fact the country already experienced a 7.9-magnitude quake at the Moro Gulf in 1976, the August 2, 1968 7.3-magnitude quake in Manila and 7.7-magnitude quake on July 16, 1990. –JEFFERSON ANTIPORDA, Manila Times