ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Shoddy building construction, old housing and lax oversight leave Pakistan especially vulnerable to deadly earthquakes, experts in disasters and architecture say, and likely exacerbated damage from a tremor that killed at least 37 people.
A 2005 earthquake that devastated much of Kashmir and killed more than 80,000 people prompted an update to Pakistan’s building code to make rebuilt houses safer.
But 14 years on, some say complacency has set in, in a country crossed by geological fault lines.
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Homes built with bricks or concrete blocks are particularly vulnerable, because each building unit shifts independently in an earthquake, said retired architecture professor Yasmin Cheema.
Even among new houses, a dangerous construction model of unreinforced masonry with no involvement from a structural engineer is widespread in Pakistan’s towns and cities, according to Muhammad Masood Rafi, the head of NED University’s earthquake engineering department. He is organising a team of engineering students and experts to travel to Mirpur and investigate the situation.
“These are very vulnerable buildings and they face the chance of damage and destruction when they are subjected to unusual forces,” he said by telephone from Karachi.
In a country where a quarter of the population lives below the poverty line, Rafi said the poor bore almost the entire brunt of badly constructed buildings.
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