Southern Taiwan Earthquake 2/6/2016

The complex was set like a C, with the buildings on the sides collapsing inward,falling first, and pancaking the rest.

As to the base, the area used to be a lake and fish ponds.

[quote=“Icon”]The complex was set like a C, with the buildings on the sides collapsing inward,falling first, and pancaking the rest.

As to the base, the area used to be a lake and fish ponds.[/quote]

Thanks for that additional information, and it might negate some of what I said. By any chance, do you know the GPS coordinates? I’d like to view it on GoogleEarth to get a better idea of the layout.

That is a bit beyond Icon`s Google fu but if it helps they also have some impressive 3D models already too.

“Google fu” - I like that. I found the Chinese name, 維冠金龍住宅大樓, but even with that I’m still not finding it on Google Maps. If you can point me to one of them 3D models, that would help. Thanks.

Despite the glum news out of Tainan, hope you are having a good CNY,
DB

We all saw the photograph of the trash (old oil cans? ) placed in the supporting pillars. I can’t even comprehend what they were thinking. Haven’t we seen this situation before? I thought I’ve seen newspaper photographs like this back in 1997 covering the Lincoln Mansions disaster. The old articles I dig up now only talk about the faulty retaining wall.
Do any of you old timers remember when the trick of stuffing garbage in the supporting pillars became publicly known? I feel it was definitely before that big earthquake we we had a number of years ago.

In regards to building inspections: They inspect once and then the building is good if it has passed. I actually saw this with one school I worked with when my manager showed me the plastered over doorways that would lead to classrooms that would be built after the building inspectors approved the design left. I asked if they would come back and he said, “No, they only come once.”

So the building may have been inspected, then they went and did their own thing.

Were they definitely in supporting pillars, and not non-supporting interior work?

There’s a geo link in the Chinese wiki article on the complex

tools.wmflabs.org/geohack/geoha … 7%E6%A8%93

[quote=“Dog’s_Breakfast”][quote=“Icon”]The complex was set like a C, with the buildings on the sides collapsing inward,falling first, and pancaking the rest.

As to the base, the area used to be a lake and fish ponds.[/quote]

Thanks for that additional information, and it might negate some of what I said. By any chance, do you know the GPS coordinates? I’d like to view it on GoogleEarth to get a better idea of the layout.[/quote]

Location of the building appears to be 23.005491N, 120.261031E - Yongda Road and Guoguang 5th Street. Apologies if I found the wrong one.

Edit - and Tempo Gain beat me too it.

[quote=“yinggeaussie”]
Location of the building appears to be 23.005491N, 120.261031E - Yongda Road and Guoguang 5th Street. Apologies if I found the wrong one.

Edit - and Tempo Gain beat me too it.[/quote]

Thanks to both Tempo Gain and Yinggeaussie for the info.

Here’s what those GPS settings bring up on Google Earth:

I don’t really get much sense of this being 9 buildings like the media reports say. Looks kind of like one large C-shaped building. Maybe it is divided into 9 sections, each with its own elevator shaft.

What I posted earlier in my diagram wouldn’t apply to this design. But I will say that the appearance of this indicates that it should have remained standing - it was wide enough that you wouldn’t expect it to topple over even if shaken violently. Unless the design of the interior vertical and horizontal supports was really flawed so that they cracked and crumbled. Somebody has some explaining to do.

Thanks to Dog’s_Breakfast, Icon, yinggeaussie, and Tempo Gain for the various kinds of information, and for shining more light on the situation than what I had earlier.

A little caveat/confession: I don’t have any focused, well-formed opinions about the collapsed building; I’m just posting some links.

As I’ve said before, I don’t know Chinese, so the link immediately below could be linking to something different from what I think it links to, but the linked page appears to be a Chinese-language discussion by an architect named Peter Tsao (曹登貴/pinyin Cáo Dēngguì) of the situation with the building in question:

facebook.com/permalink.php? … 1597506870

At the bottom of the page linked above, Mr. Tsao displays a sketch and links to some kind of blueprint, but I can’t tell if the blueprint is a blueprint of the building in question or of some other building:

facebook.com/photo.php?fbid … 884&type=3

This appears to be Peter Tsao’s Facebook page:

facebook.com/%E6%9B%B9%E7%9 … 333171317/

Edit: I just searched 維冠金龍大樓藍圖 (i. e., Wéiguān Jīnlóng Dàlóu lántú / Weiguan Jinlong Building blueprint) on Google Images and got two blueprints on the same Chinese-language webpage:

bbstop.amassly.com/post/Gossiping_1MjjTbL7

One of them looks like the blueprint that Peter Tsao linked to, and one of them doesn’t. I can’t figure it out, but maybe someone else can.

Edit again–I apologize if this is information overload:

This Chinese-language page looks like blueprints, pictures, smaller, color-coded blueprints (accompanied by Chinese-language remarks), sketches, and discussion (but I don’t know whether the discussion participants are laypersons or construction professionals):

disp.cc/b/163-9ex8

[quote=“Icon”]The complex was set like a C, with the buildings on the sides collapsing inward,falling first, and pancaking the rest.

As to the base, the area used to be a lake and fish ponds.[/quote]

Looks to me, from the pics, the center part collapsed and pancaked, while the side towers fell onto their sides. The pancaking of the center probably helped to make the sides lose stability. Reinforced concrete collapses easier then H beam construction. IF the building was constructed of beams instead of reinforced concrete it may have leaned but not collapsed. Although of course there is a limit even with H beam construction. The World Trade Center buildings pancaked and completely fell , and of course buildings of those heights are made of beams.

For people in units that are on their sides, it is a miracle to survive (and many did not). Because to be in a building falling to its side, just think of the force induced when it hits the ground. I note one family of five (I think they were on the 16th floor or some other high floor) were all pulled out, but dead. They were not crushed but died of blunt force trauma (my guess).

The rescuers are very admirable indeed. They are taking big risks themselves crawling all over and into unstable areas.

Looks like all ones that could be extracted have been taken out. Now comes the really hard part.

The pancaked floors may still contain a few survivors, but I think it will be few. And the need to use heavy equipment to lift the debris may shift the pieces and crush some remaining survivors.

Some of them may have lived for a few hours or even a day, but now so many days have gone by , with the cold and all that, chances have reduced greatly.

There are just so many sad stories. Woman rescued because the body of her husband shielded her. But her child that she was preparing to feed was killed and most likely five other members of her family.

A single mom who’s young son was the light of her life. She kept saying how her son gives her strength because she is a single mom and now he is in the rubble, likely passed away.

Just too sad. Incredibly sad actually.

Yeah. It’s very sad.

They have found more people alive in there.

Thanks for that information, Chris!

And keeping up with the high note, 3 ex executives of the building company have been arrested: npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/ … earthquake

I would wager they will get a slap on the wrist like the gutter oil scandal.

That was my exact same thought. Maybe at least people will publicize which buildings they made and have rhen a chance to escape. Of course, the buyers will suffer the most losses but lives are more important.

Here is a chance for the government to change the legislatikn so there will be some kind of protection against this lack of morality in building.

And pets: they just dug out a live Maltese…owner is also alive.

My stomach is in coma.

BTW, anyone in Tainan would like to adopt a black poodle? His owner died in the collapse. He needs a new home quickly.

Just in: apparently, from 1st to 4th floor,since it was a business area, the owner removed the inner walls from building A to E.

This is very worrisome. It was the same fault that brought down the bank building in Taipei on 921. Moreover, it is still done in thousands of buildings around the island…

Again, thanks for that information, Icon!

And thanks to everyone who has provided information, and thanks in advance to those who may provide it in the future.