Experts clarify anti-quake buildings   

地震专家称“建筑物抗几级地震”说法不科学

“说一个建筑物抗几级地震的说法是不科学的，我干了一辈子，都找不着机会说。”中国地震局工程力学研究所研究员袁一凡24日接受中新社记者采访时表示，目前民众对地震的相关知识仍有不清楚的地方。

Lushan (CNS) -- It is not scientific to say that an anti-quake building can resist a certain magnitude quake, a seismic expert has said.

Media have reported that "the buildings in Baoxing county, which had been built to resist an 8-magnitude quake after the Wenchuan disaster, collapsed during the 7-magnitude quake," which aroused public criticism.

Yuan Yifan, researcher at the Institute of Engineering Mechanics (China Earthquake Administration), said he has been eager to correct the public misunderstanding of anti-quake buildings.

The standard of measuring anti-quake buildings is intensity, not magnitude, Yuan said. "An earthquake can be described with a certain magnitude, but its intensity vary in different places."

The closer to the epicenter, the higher the intensity is, he added.

Zhou Rongjun from the Sichuan provincial earthquake administration said that besides magnitude, the intensity of a quake is directly related to the depth of the hypocenter.

Damage to quake-proof buildings requires an objective attitude, Yuan said. "It is the same with a human body. It is in overall good condition if only the fingers are broken, but the bone structure is preserved."

"A quake is a small probability event, and it is impossible to build a house as firm as a blockhouse, with consideration of cost," he said.

Miao Qisong, deputy general engineer of the Beijing Institute of Architectural Design, who participated in the assessment of building safety in affected areas, said that the buildings with seismic isolation technology sustained no structural damage from the quake.