Tokyo building owners reluctant to allow mandatory quake checks

Although the Tokyo metropolitan government has made it compulsory to conduct seismic tests on all buildings that were built before June 1981 with a height that measures more than half of the width of the facing road, when the new, stricter building codes came into force, many owners have not had the financial means to comply. As Tokyo is expected to be hit by a huge earthquake any time in the future, the government is threatening non-compliant owners with a fine. Authorities of the city would like to make sure that emergency vehicles trying to rescue people in the aftermath of a devastating quake would not be blocked by buildings that collapse onto major roads.

“We have moved to make the checks mandatory because many owners have failed to comply with our calls for seismic modifications,” an official handling the matter at the Tokyo metropolitan government said.