Are towers safe?

2011-02-25T08:00:00+01:00

Building towers is nice… But is it really a good idea??

I was looking for data about earthquake risks in Mumbai and see what I found:

“India ranks second in the world as most exposed country to natural catastrophes; every year, only the seasonal floods affect millions of people. This country is also strongly the place of earthquakes.”

Like if they needed this…

“In India, earthquakes usually happen in the North of the country, in the Himalayan region, where the Indian and Eurasian plates meet. The distortion of this Himalayan zone is important, the Indian plate getting closer to the Eurasian plate at the speed of 4.2 cm per year. In comparison, the African plate is getting closer to the Eurasian plate at the speed of 0.7 cm per year.

On January 26th 2001, an earthquake hpaaned in Kutch area – already destroyed by an earthquake in 1819. This earthquake, the most intense in 50 years, was the most violent to hit India, known as a risky area since 1956. It killed about 300 000 people. The human toll was made bigger by the corruption in the construction sector. The Indian press condemned the improper constructions and the miss in the urbanism plan. Dozens of thousands of people died because of buildings collapsing.”

Well, I’m just saying… Apparently though, we are still safer in Mumbai than in Delhi :

Click on the image to get it bigger.

Sources: http://www.chambon.ac-versailles.fr/science/geol/seism/pays/inde.htm ; http://benoot.com/inde/carte-risques-sismiques-inde-14181-91

Last posts on earthquake

Are towers safe?