Safer buildings proposed for tsunami areas

CONSTRUCTION STANDARDS

Safer buildings proposed for tsunami areas

Houses and hotels in tsunami-prone areas should be built to new minimum standards to better protect them from the power of future waves, experts say. Their advice has been compiled in a manual which sets out suggested minimum safety standards for new buildings in coastal provinces in the South.

''We don't mean that buildings which follow the new standards could resist the waves. It would just make them stronger. People would still need to run to higher areas anyway,'' said Panitan Lakkunaprasit, of Chulalongkorn University's civil engineering department.

Mr Panitan led a team which surveyed damaged buildings in tsunami-flattened areas and analysed data on earthquakes.

They then used this information to draft a construction manual for people in high-risk areas.

At the least, this would help minimise damage from a tsunami, he said.

People are advised not to build their homes near waterways, because the waves surge rapidly into them.

Contractors are advised to use iron reinforcing in concrete structures and avoid using wood. Construction of basements in a tsunami-prone area is strongly discouraged as the people inside might not hear the tsunami early warning alarm.

Chulalongkorn University has also been hired by the Department of Public Works and Town and Country Planning to set safety standards for buildings that would serve as temporary shelters in the event of a tsunami, Mr Panitan said.

The buildings would house villagers living in low-lying areas too far away from high ground. The shelters would likely be built in areas such as Khao Lak in Phangnga, he said.

Khao Lak was the hardest hit area in the Dec 26, 2004 tsunami which killed nearly 5,400 people _ half of them foreign tourists.

Meanwhile, the Interior Ministry has increased the number of provinces categorised as prone to earthquakes. They include Bangkok and neighbouring provinces, along with Chiang Mai and Kanchanaburi. Experts say the 9.3 magnitude undersea quake that caused the tsunami activated a lot of fault lines in Asia and put many areas at increased risk.