Lessons from the Myanmar earthquake: Disaster preparedness

Weak building codes and years of government unrest appear to have contributed to the devastation from the magnitude 7.7 Myanmar earthquake, a leading seismic safety expert in the region said.

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In 2014, Alam conducted seismic risk assessments in Mandalay, near the epicenter of the recent earthquake. Given the city’s geographic proximity to a major fault line, his team had recommended that the government update its building codes to make structures more resilient and improve seismic contingency planning.

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Thailand updated its earthquake building codes in 2007 and released new regulations on seismic-resistant design in 2021. Most of the building damage from Friday’s quake was nonstructural, hitting partition walls, fixtures, electricity and plumbing, Alam said. Structural beams, columns and slabs held up, despite extreme shaking and swaying of some high-rises.

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That indicates to Alam that Thailand has high compliance with its building codes. However, he said it seemed that residents were not well prepared in terms of how to respond and that contingency planning could help alleviate disruptions to roads and public services. “What is commendable in Thailand is that whatever is in the building code, I think most of the structures followed the code, and that’s why the devastation was not that high,” he said.

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