Public service

I found this alarming news and want to share it with you.

Thinking that our beloved young chess players are housed in earthquake-prone school buildings brings us some chill.

I just hope that this warning move not only our political leaders but the academe, parents, and the public as well.



60 buildings listed as unsafe in quakes
By RAYMUND F. ANTONIO
Manila Bulletin Online
January 26, 2010
Source

At least 60 buildings located in Metro Manila were declared “unsafe” by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) while 33 bridges were retrofitted in the event of a “big quake” feared to hit the metropolis anytime.

DPWH acting Secretary Victor Domingo said Monday these building structures, some of them school buildings, had already been placed under “urgent detailed evaluation” which means they had been either demolished or retrofitted.

“Of the 60 buildings, 20 had been demolished and replaced, 20 others had been retrofitted, while demolition or retrofitting is under way for the remaining 20,” Domingo told reporters in a press conference.

Among these infrastructures identified by DPWH were the Doña Maxima Blas and Rodriguez buildings, both in Malabon City; MCF building in Marikina City; C. Bautista and Rodriguez buildings in Navotas; MSA and Canumay West in Valenzuela City; and many more.

The school buildings, meanwhile, that can't reportedly withstand a strong earthquake are as follows: Andres Bonifacio Integrated School, Mandaluyong City; Araullo High School, Manila; Navotas Polytechnic College; Kalayaan Hig School main building, Pasay City; among others.

"Based on our recent building inspection, major cracks were visible on their wall partitions, beams, girders, and florr slabs. There were also presence of torsion, vertical and plan irregularities," said DPWH National Building Code Development Office executive director Emmanuel Cuntapay.

DPWH reports showed that they are vulnerable to tremors because most of them were constructed in the 90's and below when they were not designed for seismic loading.

Seismic loading is defined by the DPWH as one of the basic concepts of earthquake engineering while retrofitting is the strengthening of the bridges' foundation by driving additional piles and reinforcing columns.

Talking about retrofitted bridges, Domingo cited Jones, Mac Arthur, Nagtahan, MNDR, Del Pilar bridges, Bonifacio East and West overpass, all in Manila; Marcos and Ortigas bridges and EDSA-Kamias, EDSA-Santolan flyovers in Quezon City are among those that had undergone repair.

"We have to guarantee that all public school buildings and bridges are safe in the event a major earthquake occurs just like what happened in Haiti," Domingo said.

Earlier, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) warned that Metro Manila might be struck with a 7.0 magnitude earthquake which could damage 38 percent of residential buildings between 10 and 30 stories, and 30 to 35 percent of all public buildings.

When it hit the metropolis, it could reportedly kill up to 33,000 people and injure 114,000 others if no adequate preparations were made