Seismologist Says Bangkok Usually Doesn't Have Earthquakes, But It’s Vulnerable: 'Tall Buildings...'
Thailand Earthquake: The earthquake in Bangkok is unprecedented as it is not among cities located in high seismic risk areas, a seismologist said.
Earthquakes are an unusual occurrence in Bangkok, a seismologist said after a 7.7-magnitude temblor struck neighboring Myanmar, sending tremors across the country and toppling buildings as far away as Bangkok. Phumtham Wechayachai, deputy prime minister of Thailand, said that such an event has “never happened in 100 years."
The earthquake in Bangkok is unprecedented as it is not among cities located in high seismic risk areas but it is at potential risk from two fault lines: one located in Myanmar, about 400 km down the Andaman Sea, and the other in Kanchanaburi province, about 200 km away.
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“A lot of buildings in Bangkok seem to be located on ‘soft clay’. They could be damaged when an earthquake of major consequence occurs along fault lines," Srivastava pointed out.
Seismologist James Jackson- from the University of Cambridge in England- said that Bangkok’s tall buildings make the city particularly vulnerable to distant tremors.
Catch latest updates on Myanmar-Thailand earthquake here
Myanmar earthquake resulted from a rupture lasting “a full minute," causing significant lateral ground movement.
“Think of a piece of paper tearing, and it tears at about two kilometers per second," he said.
“It’s moving a fault, which is like a great knife cut in the Earth," he added.
Thailand’s prime minister declared an “emergency zone" in Bangkok after the quake triggered the collapse of an under-construction high-rise building. Bangkok’s National Institute for Emergency Medicine (NIEM) said that the regional governor warned people to be cautious as many high-rise buildings were damaged.
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