Builders get helping hand from Phivolcs

THE Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) is urging local government units (LGU) in Metro Cebu to use the Site Response Atlas to ensure buildings are more resilient to earthquakes and other ground movements.

Phivolcs launched the Metro Cebu Site Response Atlas yesterday to guide LGUs and engineers in building resilient residential and medium- and high-rise structures.

The Metro Cebu Site Response Atlas is a detailed compilation of earthquake ground motion and site response hazard maps to help increase the seismic resiliency of residential and other structures in Metro Cebu.

It also suggests the level of structures to be ideally constructed in an area where there is solid rock or sediment surfaces.

The atlas includes four sets of maps: the Vs30 Model Map, Peak Ground Acceleration Map, Short Period Microzonation Map and Long-Period Microzonation Map of Metro Cebu.

These maps provide information to understand the ground motion response from Danao City in the north to Carcar City in the south in the event of an earthquake.

Dr. Renato Solidum Jr., undersecretary for Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change, Department of Science and Technology and officer-in-charge of Phivolcs, explained that the maps will give different LGUs ideas on the characteristics of their soil and guide the Office of the Building Officials (OBOs) in approving building permit applications.

“In the building permit application, the proponent is required to do a soil test for taller buildings, particularly. That is one way of determining the characteristics of the surface. And sometimes, they submit data that are fake. So with this set of maps, it will give different LGUs an idea of the quality of foundation they need,” he said.

Dr. Rhommel Grutas, senior science research specialist of Phivolcs, also said the atlas will help engineers design the foundation of a building in a certain place since the characteristics of the soil have already been identified.

“If one wants to construct a building, there is a requirement of site investigation and site classification according to the Building Code. Then they can use this atlas,” he said.

The four sets of maps will be available to the public from the different OBOs.

In the structural point of view, Adam Abinales of the Association of Structural Engineers in the Philippines said that by looking at the atlas, they can introduce new interventions that will make structures more resilient to ground shaking.

It took around three years for Phivolcs to study and monitor the characteristics of ground movement in Metro Cebu to come up with the maps.

Also during the launching, a workshop on specific earthquake projects was also done, which sought to highlight the importance of regulating building designs based on the ground conditions on site.

Participants were given exercises that allowed them to identify the ground conditions on site using the Metro Cebu Site Response Atlas and to estimate the natural period of buildings to determine existing structures that may be vulnerable to the amplification of ground shaking.

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