The National Land Management Agency doled out subsidies to 70 projects to strengthen buildings against earthquakes in nine administrative regions from January to last month, it said on Tuesday.
The quake-proofing projects consisted of 20 in Taipei, 16 in New Taipei City, 10 in Taitung County, eight in Tainan, six in Pingtung County, four in Hualien County, three in Yilan County, two in Yunlin County and one in Taichung, including completed and ongoing projects, the agency added.
The three completed projects in Hualien survived the April 3 earthquake, which measured 7.2 on the Richter scale, with no signs of structural damage, the agency said.
Photo courtesy of the New Taipei City Public Works Department
Taiwan revamped its building code after the catastrophic 921 Earthquake, which resulted in a large improvement in safety standards for buildings across the nation, Taiwan Structural Engineers Association executive director Chiang Shih-hsuang (江世雄) said.
The 921 quake, which occurred on Sept. 21, 1999, measured 7.3 on the Richter scale and left 2,456 people dead and 10,718 injured, and destroyed 53,661 houses.
Despite the nation’s best efforts, the earthquake resistance of many concrete structures 30 years or older remains less than ideal, while structures nearing the end of their 50-year service life need to be torn down, Chiang said.
Reinforced brick, wood and stone construction of all kinds, many of which are older, need to be comprehensively re-examined for their ability to withstand quakes, he said.
An example of a common unsafe building design is structures at street corners with ground-level shop fronts on both sides with a glass facade, Chiang said.
Buildings with excessive volumes of empty internal space, such as big lobbies with tall ceilings, are another example of popular architectural styles that are highly risky, he added.
These types of buildings suffer from a lack of structural walls and pillars relative to their size and can be found all over Taiwan, Chiang said.
About 9.19 million properties are registered as residential buildings, of which 65.53 percent are made of concrete and 18.4 percent are made of reinforced brick, government data showed.
Older buildings in Taiwan often feature ground levels designed to yield a maximum of floor space and emphasize openness and lighting, said Andy Huang (黃舒衛), director of Landlord Representation Services at Colliers International Taiwan.
These practices, in many cases, violate safety codes, resulting in structures that must be overhauled to comply with the more rigorously written and enforced modern safety laws, Huang said.
As outdated buildings are the least likely to attract tenants, landlords owning unsafe properties often lack money to refurbish them, creating a vicious cycle, Huang added.
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