The IT city’s classification as a ‘low damage risk zone’ on the country’s seismic map does not mean that those residing in high-rise buildings are safe even if an an earthquake occurs 300km away from Bangalore.

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SA Reddi, member, Civil Engineering Safety Committee, Atomic Eenergy Regulatory Board (AERB), while delivering a talk on ‘Earthquake You and Your Abode’ on Wednesday warned that a majority of the high-rise buildings are vulnerable to earthquakes due to poor design concepts, poor detailing and construction practices.

“Though Bangalore falls in Zone 2 on the seismic zoning map, high-rise buildings would not be able to withstand earthquakes. A majority of the high-rise buildings would be damaged even if the epicentre is about 300km away from Bangalore,” he said.

Citing the example of the 2001 Bhuj earthquake, Reddi said though Ahmedabad was located about 300km away from Bhuj town (the epicentre of the earthquake) a number of high-rise buildings were reduced to rubble in Ahmedabad as the buildings were not earthquake-resistant.

“Bangalore, too, stands in the same category; if a quake occurs 300km away, we are in danger,” he said.

Reddi, who has also served as an expert in the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), blamed the architects and structural engineers for not planning earthquake-resistant buildings as he said about 90% of the city’s engineers and architects were clueless about securing buildings from quakes.

“I visited a 45-storey building which is under construction in Koramanagala. The developers, architects and contractors are all well-known persons; yet, the building did not meet the basic requirements to be earthquake-resistant,” he said.