"Liquefaction database goes online"--from China Post; Data show areas thought prone to soil liquefaction--from Taipei Times

This has been a hot issue in Taiwan for the past few days. People want to know if they are living in a safe area. You might like to compare the report by the China Post and that by the Taipei Times.

I learned the new word "liquefaction."

http://www.chinapost.com.tw/taiwan/national/national-news/2016/03/15/460816/Liquefaction-database.htm

Liquefaction database goes online

By Stephanie Chao ,The China Post
March 15, 2016, 12:00 am TWN

TAIPEI, Taiwan -- The Executive Yuan released the long-awaited inquiry system for soil liquefaction zones in eight regions nationwide on Monday, providing residents with the means to check the status of the areas where they reside.

My comments: In Mandarin, that's 土壤液化.

The system, led and set up by the Ministry of Economic Affairs' (MOEA) Central Geological Survey (CGS, 中央地質調查所), can be accessed via the Economics Ministry's website and provides two versions for Internet users — one for members of the public and one for professionals.

My comments: You can check about your residence here: http://map.tgos.tw/TGOSimpleViewer2/Web/Map/TGOSimpleViewer_Map.aspx

Resembling online map services, users can insert their residential address into the system and find out whether they are residing in soil liquefaction-risk areas.

For professionals looking to use the database for construction or related use, another version should be used, Cabinet spokesman Sun Lih-chyun (孫立群) said.

High-risk zones were released for Taipei City, New Taipei City, Yilan County, Hsinchu County and City, Tainan City, Kaohsiung City and Pingtung County. Risk severity from low to high is categorized according to three colors — green, yellow and red.

Data for remaining counties and cities have yet to be announced, as well as for the areas that are not in danger of soil liquefaction, though they will be made public at the end of the year, and in 2018, respectively, the Executive Yuan reported.

Apart from providing the data, the government has also provided contact information for those who wish to seek expert advice from local authorities, particularly for those with houses located in high-risk areas.

MOI Rolls out Measures

Tourist attractions — such as Taipei 101 — and areas with heavy traffic or major public transportation routes that were red-zoned in the database should not be issued a "death warrant," Sun said, as soil liquefaction needs to meet three factors to occur.

"Loose, sandy soil, high underground water levels and severe earthquakes of magnitude 5 and above" are the three factors that could lead to soil liquefaction in an area, Sun said.

The Executive Yuan's initial plans included a six-year program: NT$4 billion will be invested in the first year — including NT$2 billion for inspections on old housing — and the rest will be injected into soil liquefaction efforts.

If a resident realizes their house is situated in a high-risk zone, the Interior Ministry suggests residents carry out "self-checks." Among factors that may indicate a lower risk for a building are that the building in question is not located in soil-liquefaction risk areas, the building was constructed after revisions made to regulations for architectural design on Dec. 29, 1999, the building has three or more basement levels, the building was constructed by the "pile foundation" method, buildings that are fewer than three stories high are equipped with "raft" or "slab" foundations and have foundations in non-liquefaction bed rocks, such as clay or gravel layers.

Detailed measures will be reported to the Cabinet this week by the Interior Ministry, including details on future soil liquefaction inspections on old buildings, Sun said.

For improvement of the database, the central government has made funding available to assist local governments to carry out more detailed research efforts, Deputy Interior Minister Lin Tzu-ling (林慈玲) stated.

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From The Taipei Times:

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2016/03/15/2003641606

Data show areas thought prone to soil liquefaction

Home / Front Page

Tue, Mar 15, 2016 - Page 1

The Executive Yuan yesterday launched an online database showing areas prone to soil liquefaction and likely to sustain serious damage during a major earthquake.

The data released concerned the cities of Taipei, New Taipei, Tainan, Kaohsiung, Hsinchu and Yilan as well as Hsinchu and Pingtung counties, with the database to be extended to include Taichung, Chiayi and Changhua cities as well as Yunlin and Chiayi counties by the end of this year.

Metropolitan areas with high potential for soil liquefaction include Taipei’s Zhongshan (中山) and Datong (大同) districts, New Taipei City’s Sanchong (三重) and Sinjhuang (新莊) districts, Tainan’s coastal areas — including Annan (安南), Anping (安平), Shanhua (善化) and South (南) districts — and Kaohsiung’s Sanmin (三民) and Cianjin (前金) districts, the data showed.

A checklist was provided for users to assess the risks that their building might be damaged by soil liquefaction.

It indicates that buildings constructed after the 921 Earthquake in 1999, those with three-story or deeper basements and those with pile foundations or raft foundations are not at risk of collapse, even if their locations are susceptible to soil liquefaction, Executive Yuan spokesperson Sun Lih-chyun (孫立群) said.

Calling on the public not to panic, Sun said: “Soil liquefaction is not a death penalty for houses, and the safety of a building lies in its construction method.”

“All three conditions — sandy soil structure, high groundwater levels and being earthquake-prone — must be met simultaneously for an area to be recognized as highly susceptible to soil liquefaction. However, soil liquefaction poses little threat to buildings with strong foundations,” Sun said.



Soil liquefaction occurs when shaking during an earthquake causes saturated granular material to behave like a liquid, potentially causing soil to be unable to support structures above it, Central Geological Survey Director Chiang Chung-jung (江崇榮) said.

Soil liquefaction has become a prominent issue, as it is believed to have contributed to the collapse of the Weiguan Jinlong complex in Tainan that killed 115 people after a magnitude 6.4 earthquake on Feb. 6.

However, officials yesterday said the collapse was not related to soil liquefaction, as the complex was in an area considered at “medium” risk of being affected.

In related news, the Executive Yuan said it plans to allocate NT$24 billion (US$730.15 million) over the next six years to conduct a “health inspection” program for old buildings and mitigate soil liquefaction hazards.

There are about 770,000 nationwide that were constructed before 1999 and need to be inspected, Sun said.

The budget would be used to finance reinforcement or reconstruction costs of structurally unstable buildings and conduct more accurate geological surveys of areas highly prone to soil liquefaction, Sun said.

The Executive Yuan is also considering formalizing a new property transaction rule to require traders to disclose geological information about properties, Sun said.

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