More buildings have been inspected and deemed dangerous in Tainan’s Yujing District (玉井) than in Yongkang District (永康), which reported the highest number of casualties after the Feb. 6 earthquake due to the collapse of the Weiguan Jinlong complex (維冠金龍大樓), city officials said yesterday.
The epicenter of the magnitude 6.4 earthquake was in Kaohsiung’s Meinong Township (美濃), but caused the most severe damage in Tainan. It killed 117 people and injured more than 500.
The municipality launched an emergency inspection of the 5,800 buildings that were deemed a safety liability following the earthquake, and has to date completed inspections of 5,500, the city government said.
Photo: Wu Chun-feng, Taipei Times
More than 570 buildings have been tagged as dangerous, marked by a red slip, or considered a liability, marked by a yellow slip, across the city, with Yujing District holding a higher ratio than other districts, with 80 red slips and 180 yellow slips, the municipality said.
However, it added that most buildings considered dangerous or a safety risk were traditional housings built from brick or packed earth.
The Tainan Public Works Bureau said buildings tagged with yellow slips did not pose an outright danger as the main structure remained undamaged, but supports, ceilings or walls were damaged in a way that was considered a liability, adding that red-tagged buildings suffered damage to their main structural integrity.
Screengrab from Facebook
Districts ranking below Yujing were Guijen (歸仁) and Guanmiao (關廟) districts, both with more than 20 buildings that were tagged with red slips, the municipality said, adding that Shanshang (山上), Sinhua (新化) and Jhongsi (中西) districts each had more than 10 tagged buildings.
Annan District (安南), which was severely affected with soil liquefaction, had less than 10 red-tagged buildings, despite having more than 1,000 suspected buildings, the municipality said.
The bureau said that tagged buildings did not necessarily require demolition, but merely signify to their owners the risk the building’s current situation posed.
The buildings are to be reinforced and reinspected in due time, with demolition considered only if reinforcement of structures are not completed in a timely manner, the municipality said, adding that other buildings that were already a public safety risk, such as the Jinlong complex and the Dacheng Market in Shanhua District (善化), will be demolished.
Meanwhile, the city government said that as of Tuesday afternoon, the city’s special account for donations had received NT$3.5 billion (US$104.9 million) in charity donations, adding that donations could reach as much as NT$3.7 billion.
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