The Executive Yuan yesterday launched an online database showing areas prone to soil liquefaction and likely to sustain serious damage during a major earthquake.
The data released concerned the cities of Taipei, New Taipei, Tainan, Kaohsiung, Hsinchu and Yilan as well as Hsinchu and Pingtung counties, with the database to be extended to include Taichung, Chiayi and Changhua cities as well as Yunlin and Chiayi counties by the end of this year.
Metropolitan areas with high potential for soil liquefaction include Taipei’s Zhongshan (中山) and Datong (大同) districts, New Taipei City’s Sanchong (三重) and Sinjhuang (新莊) districts, Tainan’s coastal areas — including Annan (安南), Anping (安平), Shanhua (善化) and South (南) districts — and Kaohsiung’s Sanmin (三民) and Cianjin (前金) districts, the data showed.
PHOTO: CNA
A checklist was provided for users to assess the risks that their building might be damaged by soil liquefaction.
It indicates that buildings constructed after the 921 Earthquake in 1999, those with three-story or deeper basements and those with pile foundations or raft foundations are not at risk of collapse, even if their locations are susceptible to soil liquefaction, Executive Yuan spokesperson Sun Lih-chyun (孫立群) said.
Calling on the public not to panic, Sun said: “Soil liquefaction is not a death penalty for houses, and the safety of a building lies in its construction method.”
“All three conditions — sandy soil structure, high groundwater levels and being earthquake-prone — must be met simultaneously for an area to be recognized as highly susceptible to soil liquefaction. However, soil liquefaction poses little threat to buildings with strong foundations,” Sun said.
Soil liquefaction occurs when shaking during an earthquake causes saturated granular material to behave like a liquid, potentially causing soil to be unable to support structures above it, Central Geological Survey Director Chiang Chung-jung (江崇榮) said.
Soil liquefaction has become a prominent issue, as it is believed to have contributed to the collapse of the Weiguan Jinlong complex in Tainan that killed 115 people after a magnitude 6.4 earthquake on Feb. 6.
However, officials yesterday said the collapse was not related to soil liquefaction, as the complex was in an area considered at “medium” risk of being affected.
In related news, the Executive Yuan said it plans to allocate NT$24 billion (US$730.15 million) over the next six years to conduct a “health inspection” program for old buildings and mitigate soil liquefaction hazards.
There are about 770,000 nationwide that were constructed before 1999 and need to be inspected, Sun said.
The budget would be used to finance reinforcement or reconstruction costs of structurally unstable buildings and conduct more accurate geological surveys of areas highly prone to soil liquefaction, Sun said.
The Executive Yuan is also considering formalizing a new property transaction rule to require traders to disclose geological information about properties, Sun said.
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