Experts suggest building renovations after Taiwan quake

TAIPEI -- Experts said Monday at a forum that local authorities in Taiwan should step up renovation of old buildings to protect people from earthquakes, after a quake in Tainan earlier this month claimed 116 lives.

Hsu Wen-hsiung, professor with Tamkang University, said more than 52 percent of buildings in Taiwan were built more than 30 years ago. In the cities of Taipei and New Taipei alone, there are more than a million households living in such buildings.

An earthquake of more than 6-magnitude on the Richter scale will put people living in those buildings in danger, Hsu said, suggesting that local government make plans to repair or rebuild those buildings as soon as possible.

In the 6.7-magnitude quake that struck Tainan on Feb. 6, a 16-storey building collapsed, completely blocking a six-lane highway and killing 114 among some 380 staying in the building.

Developer of the building Lin Ming-hui was arrested on suspicion of negligent homicide, along with two other men from his management team. Local court said last week the building used substandard reinforcing steel bars.

At the scene of the collapsed building, many rectangular commercial cans can be seen inside the walls exposed by the quake, apparently having been used as building material. Polystyrene was also found to have been mixed in with concrete.

Chiu Yi, an expert with the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research, said while stepping up renovations, laws and regulations on construction investment must also be improved to make sure that the whole construction process is under proper supervision.