Swaying high-rise condos amid earthquake scares residents

Being on the 18th floor of a condominium unit while a magnitude 6.1 earthquake  is rocking Central Luzon and Metro Manila is a terrifying experience.

A report by Oscar Oida on GMA News TV's Balita Pilipinas Ngayon showed a chandelier swaying inside a unit of a Taguig condominium as caught on CCTV camera.

“Sobrang lakas, as in super nakakatakot talaga, so pinaalis ko sila kasi nga baka bumagsak yung chandelier,” unit owner M.A. Buendia said.

No one was hurt in their household, but Buendia said his grandmother got traumatized after the incident.

“Gusto niyang ipabenta, sabi niya sa amin. Natatakot siya lagi tuwing lindol. Kasi before, nung wala pa kami sa high rise, takot naman siya sa baha. Ngayon naman nasa high-rise kami, takot naman siya sa lindol,” Buendia said.

Other videos showing high rise structures swaying during the earthquake circulated in social media. But experts say, the incident is normal for these buildings.

“Yun ang design talaga, kasi parang yung oak tree timber versus a pine tree. Yung pine tree or bamboo nagse-sway. Pero yung mga oak tree, strong timber, nagbe-break. The higher you are the longer is the swaying,” urban planning expert Architect Jun Palafox said.

According  to Palafox, a 2004 JICA study on Metro Manila earthquake impact reduction showed that only three percent of high-rise buildings will collapse in a 7.2-magnitude earthquake.

High-rise buildings are actually safer in strong earthquakes than low-rise structures, the report said.

Philippine Statistics Office data in 2015 showed that more than 1 million multi-unit residential buildings like condominiums were erected in Metro Manila with more than 4.6 million residents.

It is expected that the figures will grow.

Palafox advised ordering buildings to undergo structural audit, where those who will fail will have to do retrofitting.

“It’s 90 percent less expensive, cheaper to address the hazard bago maging disaster. Mas mahal ang rehabilitation after the disaster,” Palafox said. —Joviland Rita/LDF, GMA News