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0 pointsrjzzleep2y ago0 comments

The recommendation that I was taught when I took Chinese lessons btw is to stand either below a pillar or a door frame, and to open the doors so that once the initial shaking is over you can escape(for example the door frame might get stuck and then you cannot even escape in case of an emergency).

Most of the collapsed buildings however seem to have not collapsed directly, but rather the foundation seems to have given in, so that if you were above the second floor you would probably have been able to be rescued.

What I found most terrifying is that there are construction sites where material has flown to neighbouring buildings and destroyed parts of them. Imagine your building being up to code and then killing just because your apartment happened to be facing a highrise construction site.

I have a feeling that the injury and death toll will probably take a while to be assessed. This felt genuinely terrifying.

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3 comments · 2 top-level

TomK322y ago· 1 in thread

It's quite impressive that this red building Hualien County is just leaning and didn't collapse. Even most of the glass panes are still in place and mirror the ground just fine. Comparing this to earthquakes in places like Turkey when the buildings just collapse into a pile of rubble, I doubt the builders in Hualien could have done much better expect for foundation piles going far deeper than code dictates.

rjzzleepOP2y ago

Yeah I agree. A friend of mine in Hongkong told me that his windows (in a new construction) would fall out during smaller seismic events. What I meant though were things outside of the control of the building construction.

In 1999 Taiwan had a major earthquake where some 2400 people died. 3 months after the disaster the government released a change in building construction codes, to some extent, what you see here is the result of those policies being enforced right away. It's quite a feat of engineering, but I don't know to what extent this extends to sewage, gas, and/or other piping systems not directly related to the building construction.

FanaHOVA2y ago

> and to open the doors so that once the initial shaking is over you can escape

Just to make sure to stand far away from the doors you leave open as they can swing and hit you.

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