The capital’s high rises were left largely unscathed after a
7.0-magnitude earthquake struck off the island of Java Wednesday, with
cracks on floors and walls the only tell-tale signs a temblor had
occurred. This, experts said, was proof that Jakarta was in a good
position to withstand further quakes. “With the earthquake
today, no building collapsed even though the magnitude was quite
strong,” said architecture expert Budi Sukanda, chairman of the Indonesian Association of
Architects, adding that most buildings in Indonesia would survive a
7.0-magnitude quake. He added that a 1985 city regulation
required new buildings to be quake resistant, but that buildings
constructed earlier than that had already implemented quake-proof
measures.
Adang Surahman, an earthquake engineering expert, said most buildings in Jakarta could withstand a horizontal acceleration of up to 20-30 percent of gravity, an engineering measure of the side-to-side movement of buildings. Stronger than that, he said, most buildings would collapse. “The earthquake we have just experienced was only around a 5 percent horizontal acceleration, so we were relatively safe.”
Excerpted from thejakartaglobe.com.
Adang Surahman, an earthquake engineering expert, said most buildings in Jakarta could withstand a horizontal acceleration of up to 20-30 percent of gravity, an engineering measure of the side-to-side movement of buildings. Stronger than that, he said, most buildings would collapse. “The earthquake we have just experienced was only around a 5 percent horizontal acceleration, so we were relatively safe.”
Excerpted from thejakartaglobe.com.
