Magnitude 6.1 Luzon quake a wake-up call for structural audit of PHL buildings —urban planner Palafox

The magnitude 6.1 quake that hit Luzon on Monday may be considered a wake-up call to check the integrity of the buildings in the country, according to Filipino architect Jun Palafox on Tuesday.

"Another wake up call. Dapat even before the earthquake mag-structural audit na 'yung mga building and retrofit," Palafox said in an interview in GMA News TV's Balitanghali Tuesday.

Engineer and architects, especially of high-rise buildings, must review their structural design calculations to make sure that these can withstand strong quakes, he added.

Further, he shared that whenever he designs buildings, he goes beyond the standards set by the country and borrow from the building codes of other countries with best practices in creating quake-resilient structures.

Palafox inferred that the extent of damage in Porac, Pampanga may have something to do with the soil condition in the area and underscored the importance of conducting a technical study on such before constructing buildings.

He also warned the public not to be complacent even if their houses and other structures near them have withstood previous earthquakes.

"May mga building owners nga sabi sa akin na ilang beses na silang naka-survive ng earthquake. Hindi ho guarantee 'yan. Kapag maraming earthquake nang nangyari, the more you should structural audit them (the buildings)," Palafox said. —Dona Magsino/LDF, GMA News