99pc of Malaysian buildings not built to withstand quakes

PENANG, Oct 12, – Less than one per cent of buildings in Malaysia are built according to specifications that take earthquakes into consideration, said Associate Professor Taksiah Abdul Majid, supervisor of Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM)’s Disaster Research Unit.

Taksiah, who is a leading researcher in earthquakes, said from the unit’s research most buildings did not take the earthquake factor into consideration assuming that Malaysia was not exposed to the risk of earthquakes.

“Malaysia rarely experiences strong earthquakes and that factor causes many specifications for building construction to pay not much attention to earthquakes.

“However, we cannot be complacent as Kuala Lumpur is just 300km from Sumatra, which frequently experiences strong earthquakes,” she said at a news conference at USM here today. - + selanjutnya

99pc of Malaysian buildings not built to withstand quakes