High-rises can withstand 5.0 quake

Kota Kinabalu: It is not easy for earthquakes to bring down high-rises in the city. Engineers have built them according to British Standards that if such formula is considered, buildings could withstand a 5.0-magnitude earthquake easily.

Additional measures would bump the cost of construction by between five and 10 per cent and translate to around five per cent in terms of Gross Development Value, explained Goh.

Sabah Housing and Real Estate Developers Association (Shareda) President Datuk Francis Goh, said for safety measures, immediate investigations were also carried out in the wake of the recent 5.9-magnitude earthquake on June 5.

"We were informed by our engineer, any building constructed in the city at the moment could easily sustain up to 5.0-magnitude quake," he said.

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The British Standard Code of Practice is part of the city's existing building code and takes account into the reinforcement of structures to withstand three times its original strength.

In the wake of the earthquake, a team from Shareda was deployed to look into the impacts on several high-rises in the city.

According to Goh, the Peak, Bay 21, Putatan Platinum and Danau Angkasa had been deemed "safe and sound", adding there had been no instances of buildings collapsing or suffering major cracks in the aftermath.

"It is a good proof that the 5.9-magnitude earthquake will not have a disastrous impact on our building structures at the moment."

Still, he said builders should have no problem with engineers opting to place additional strengthening as a safety factor so as to gain buyers' confidence in future.

The same goes to developers who want to adopt additional strengthening of structures in the future, although there are yet to be laws for builders to adhere to address earthquakes, he said.

On another note, Goh denied the existence of any market sentiments of house buyers trying to get rid of their high-rise apartments or condominiums for landed properties. So far, he said he had never encountered any of his buyers trying to withdraw from a purchase nor cancel their orders and book a new unit to stay closer to the ground following the earthquake.

Goh said top storey units remained hotcakes at present, adding that it is the same with demands for landed property which had never faltered since the earthquake.

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However, he noted the demand for landed property had never ceased due to its limited supply at present.

"I think there would always be people to buy landed property, but it's not entirely caused by the earthquake. The recent earthquake will also not constitute to any increase in the prices of landed property," he said.

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