Buildings, school buildings on many northern "faults"

not ready for earthquake

Thairath Online

  • Thai Rath Scoop

  • Interview

22 July 2022 17:47

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Causing people in the North, especially Chiang Rai, to be a little confused with the 6.4 quake, 3 kilometers deep, the center is in the northeast of Mae Sai District, Chiang Rai Province, more than 80 kilometers away. to the vibration

In addition to the strong earthquake

There was also an aftershock followed.

which from the preliminary report

Found that more than 40 times ever.

Earthquake... near Thailand

What signals do you send to us?

Thairath Online Special News Team spoke with

Prof. Dr. Pennueng Wanichchai, professor at the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) and earthquake expert,

said that the earthquake that occurred in this time

considered normal

Especially in areas prone to earthquakes and in the past, such areas have experienced higher earthquakes.

or lower this time on a regular basis

“Only this time

It is considered to be quite severe earthquake and will happen once in a while.

because the likelihood of it happening is low.”

for Thailand

Considered far from the epicenter of the earthquake.

It is about 60 kilometers from the border or in the nearest district, Mae Sai district, about 80 kilometers, so we can feel the tremor.

excite

But ... for areas that are about 10-20 kilometers from the center, there will be very strong tremors.

If there are houses

In that area, houses will be destroyed.

or even death

But fortunately, that area is not a big city.

So the damage is not much.

For Thailand, it is considered not dangerous at all.

Faults in Myanmar

in line with Thailand

Earthquake experts said that the cause of the earthquake in Myanmar this time.

It comes from the Wan Ha fault, which is considered the same line as Thailand.

geological conditions

considered to be the same area

Only that the area is divided into areas of Myanmar, Thailand or Laos.

“Earthquakes in Myanmar with a magnitude of more than 6 can occur in northern Thailand as well.

Especially in the areas of Chiang Mai, Mae Hong Son, Chiang Rai, Phrae, Nan, where Thailand has many fault lines.

distributed in the northern area

We have to be careful with every fault, but from the data we find that the rate of plate tectonics is low, so the chance of an earthquake.

Therefore, it takes quite a long time to accumulate energy,” said Prof. Dr. Pennueng.

meanwhile

In Myanmar, especially in Nay Pyi Taw, Mandalay, this area has large faults and has a very high sliding rate.

There will be more frequent earthquakes than in Thailand.

But... in Thailand

There is a chance of an earthquake that results in danger.

earthquake in myanmar

many years ago

Damage an ancient artifact.

earthquake in myanmar

Affects the sliding cycle in Thailand?

When asked if the earthquake in Myanmar

Affects faults in Thailand or not?

An earthquake guru explains that each earthquake is the movement of faults.

which is to relieve stress or the energy accumulated in the rock

If there is a slippage nearby

It may be to stimulate the change.

which will affect how

depending on the orientation and angle of the fault

Some faults may add stress to that fault line.

Or some lines reduce that stress.

If this increases the stress on the fault line

It will result in a faster earthquake.

which we do not know how far each fault has accumulated power

If there is already a lot of energy accumulation

Get more, it might explode.

The next earthquake, for example, was supposed to happen in 50 years, possibly shortened to 10 years.

Prof. Dr. Pennueng Wanichchai

Standards for building construction in most Thai fault areas

not ready yet

Earthquake experts say that in Thailand, even earthquakes are infrequent.

But when a lot of energy is accumulated

and an explosion is an earthquake

Like what happened several years ago in Chiang Rai Province, the size of 6.2 is close to what happened yesterday.

At that time, there were many buildings damaged, 20 kilometers radius from the center.

which is a possible example

If an earthquake of the same magnitude but moved the center to the center of the city

The damage will be multiplied by dozens of times.

especially in the city of Chiang Mai

The serious damage will be enormous.

“Coping with earthquakes

A building design is also needed to support it.

which in the past

We have a ministerial regulation on the design of earthquake resistant buildings under the Building Control Act.

which the law was issued since 1997 and is enforced until the present

But the problem is that the enforcement is not very strict.

which according to such rules

Must be a building with a height of more than 15 meters or a hospital or school building, in fact, there are not many buildings higher than 15 meters.

until last year

There is a major change. There is a change in the said rules. Buildings from 3 floors or more must be designed to support earthquakes...

which means

Many buildings that have already been built

no earthquake support

If fortunately nothing happens in decades, that's fine, because the construction will change over time.

But if it happens soon, in the next 10 years, these buildings may not be ready...

and if it is an old building that needs to be preserved

should be improved and reinforced to support

Picture of the earthquake in Chiang Rai province in 2014

Hundreds of school buildings

near Mae Chan fault

not support earthquake

Prof. Dr. Pennueng also revealed that in the past,

having surveyed the northern region in the fault area, it was found that many school buildings were in weak condition, for example, around 10 kilometers on the Mae Chan fault line.

This is a very big and important fault. There are many schools around it.

And there are hundreds of buildings in weak condition.

It can be easily noticed that it is a 2-3-storey school building that looks like an open-air building on the ground floor.

This kind of building is in a rather weak condition.

what can be done is

strengthening these buildings

In fact, we found many weak buildings in the North.

and in that fault area

There is a chance of an earthquake of magnitude 6.0 such as Mae Hong Son, Chiang Mai, Nan, Lampang.

“If any building is very close to the fault

It may be fully affected.

because of the presence of a fault in the area

This means that there is a chance of an earthquake of magnitude 6.5 or more.

Most of them are shallow earthquake faults, with a depth of 3-20 km, meaning that the shallower the epicenter, the more dangerous it is, while some zones with deep earthquakes

It's less dangerous like this.”

Thai researchers look for seismic models in Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai

Lecturer, Asian Institute of Technology

concluded that

There are quite a number of researchers currently working on earthquake research.

partially funded by

National Research Office (NRCT) with up to 11 projects and 4-5 projects are working on seismic modeling.

in Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai areas

If the research is successful

It will allow us to know which areas are dangerous.

particularly damaged

There is a chance to receive the most serious damage in 50 years or 200 years, which can be assessed. It is expected that in the next 1-2 years it will be complete.


Special news team, Thairath Online reports.

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