President of the Structural Engineers Association of Thailand. Analyzing the causes of structural collapse from the Taiwan earthquake. An earthquake of magnitude 7.4 occurred off the east coast. About 20 kilometers south of Hualien City, Prof. Dr. Amorn Pimanmas, president of the Thai Association of Structural Engineers, explained that according to information from the United States Geological Survey (USGS), the cause of the earthquake was a reverse fault ( Reverse faulting) occurs at the boundary between the Eurasian tectonic plates. and the Philippine Sea At a depth of 34.8 km, it is in the Ring of Fire region. which is one of the areas with the highest prevalence of earthquakes in the world. The formation of such reverse faults causes vertical movement of the tectonic plates. As a result, a tsunami hit the mountain and hit the coast. Currently, a tsunami wave height of approximately 30 cm has been detected, which is not yet very dangerous. However, the earthquake that occurred was classified as a large earthquake. And was the most violent in 25 years. The tremors were felt as far away as Taipei. and in China as well And there are still aftershocks with magnitudes greater than 5 that can occur. It also caused landslides in some areas. For the observation of the collapse of many buildings. In Hualien, Prof. Dr. Amorn Pimanmat explained that many building structures had collapsed. It was found that the collapse pattern occurred on the ground floor of the building. This is called a soft storey failure in engineering, where the ground floor pillars of the building will be destroyed. This caused the rest of the building to tip over at a 45 degree angle to the ground. and buildings that are destroyed like this It is probably an old building that has not been reinforced. Buildings that are at risk on "soft floors" have open ground floors. Often it is a commercial building. Open space on the ground floor on one side of the front for commercial use. The remaining side has a wall built. Therefore, the lower pillars on the exposed side are weak pillars. It collapsed and caused the building to tip over. as happened Earthquake and tsunami that occurred in Taiwan It did not affect Thailand. But Thailand still has a moderate earthquake risk. In many areas, such as the northern, western regions, as well as Bangkok, therefore, Thailand should prepare for earthquakes. Especially measures to strengthen old buildings. This can be done in several ways, such as enlarging the pole to make it larger. or installing diagonal bracing (Bracing), which is a method that reduces the risk of failure from soft floors . Source: Thai News Agency