Adobe houses couldn't withstand tremors
Source: Xinhua |
July 24, 2013, Wednesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
A GANSU official yesterday urged the construction of quake-proof housing.
Most of the collapsed houses were adobe rooms that were not able to withstand a strong earthquake, said Wang Lanmin, head of the province's seismological bureau.
On the other hand, houses that were built or rebuilt after a massive landslide in May last year, which killed 57 people and left 15 missing, suffered minor damage in Monday's earthquake, he said.
"All the adobe houses collapsed," said Zhu Wenqing, a villager at Majiagou in the town of Meichuan.
Zhu's eight-room adobe house swayed but did not collapse when the 6.6-magnitude earthquake hit on Monday morning. Frequent aftershocks, however, turned his home into a pile of rubble.
An initial investigation showed the quake caused the collapses of 51,800 houses and severely damaged 240,000 others.
China has been working on a quake-proof rural housing construction project since 2006, which has benefited more than 2 million households so far. In 2009, Gansu proposed building 2 million houses in five years.
However, the centuries-old tradition of building adobe houses in the province has hindered the project's progress.
Most of the collapsed houses were adobe rooms that were not able to withstand a strong earthquake, said Wang Lanmin, head of the province's seismological bureau.
On the other hand, houses that were built or rebuilt after a massive landslide in May last year, which killed 57 people and left 15 missing, suffered minor damage in Monday's earthquake, he said.
"All the adobe houses collapsed," said Zhu Wenqing, a villager at Majiagou in the town of Meichuan.
Zhu's eight-room adobe house swayed but did not collapse when the 6.6-magnitude earthquake hit on Monday morning. Frequent aftershocks, however, turned his home into a pile of rubble.
An initial investigation showed the quake caused the collapses of 51,800 houses and severely damaged 240,000 others.
China has been working on a quake-proof rural housing construction project since 2006, which has benefited more than 2 million households so far. In 2009, Gansu proposed building 2 million houses in five years.
However, the centuries-old tradition of building adobe houses in the province has hindered the project's progress.
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