Seismic Design Specifications Revised 相隔11年 建築物耐震設計規範再度修訂

Taiwan experiences frequent earthquakes. The Ministry of the Interior and National Center for Research on Earthquake Engineering recently revised the seismic design code with a focus on strengthening the ability of so-called "weakling" buildings to resist earthquakes.

Over 72 percent of buildings in Taipei were built over 30 years ago. It is the city or county with the most severe aged building issue. Taiwan experiences frequent earthquakes. Therefore, testing buildings' structural safety performance and ability to resist earthquakes is crucial. This year, the Ministry of the Interior revised the "Seismic Design Specifications and Commentary of Buildings." It took effect in October.

Wu Hsin-hsou, Director-General, Construction and Planning Agency: “It was necessary, and we'll need to convince more serious cases to implement it as soon as possible. The rest can gradually make the improvements, otherwise it will be highly difficult to reinforce all the reinforcements done in the past. ”

A 2018 earthquake collapsed a building belonging to Cloud Gate. At what are referred to as "weakling" buildings, the lower stories collapse, while upper stories remain intact. This happens because the lower stories are usually open spaces used by the public and with arcades, which means they are less resistant to earthquakes. Increasing the earthquake resistance of "weakling" buildings was the focus of the revised specifications, which the MOI formulated with the assistance of the National Center for Research on Earthquake Engineering.

Chou Chung-che, Director General, NCREE: “Some are privately owned but used for public use. The government previously enacted laws to compel them to undergo so-called earthquake resistance assessments. Any shortcomings identified by the assessments have to be resolved. This section was put into the specifications.”

The revised specifications require buildings located near active faults to strengthen their earthquake resistance. Taking the Qishan Fault as an example, the earthquake resistance of newly constructed buildings will be 20 to 30 percent higher under the revised specifications. The Construction and Planning Agency said it will place buildings that are privately owned but provided for public use such as hotels, department stores, or hospitals on the priority list for public safety inspections to ensure their structural safety. They will be required to make improvements if their earthquake resistance is substandard.

台北市內有高達72％的建物，屋齡高達30年以上，是全台老屋情況最嚴重的縣市，尤其位處地震頻繁的台灣，建築物的結構安全性能和耐震能力，也備受時間考驗，因此內政部今年再度修訂《建築物耐震設計規範及解說》，今年10月正式上路。

營建署長吳欣修說：「有必要而且看起來，比較嚴重的先趕快說服他先來進行，那剩下的以後再逐次逐次地來做改善，否則過去的做法補強，就應該補強全部都要的話，那其實困難度是真的很高。」

2018年因地震倒塌的雲門翠堤大樓，就是台灣地震倒塌建築物的縮影，這種俗稱軟腳蝦的建物，大多都是底層倒塌、上半部相對完整，這是因為低樓層大多為開放空間供民眾使用，加上騎樓式設計，所以底層抗震能力差，因此在這次國震中心的協助下，修訂的重點，就是改善軟腳蝦建物的耐震能力。

國研院國震中心主任周中哲說：「它有私有住宅但有公用的，那政府在前一陣子也立法，就必須強制要去做所謂耐震的評估，那評估之後需要補強就會做，真正地去補強弱勢，所以在規範裡面，也把這個條文就放進去了。」

新規要求鄰近活動斷層區，要強化耐震力，以旗山斷層為例，如果依照新規範設計新建築，耐震能力大約可以提升2到3成，另外營建署也表示，如果屬於私有但提供公眾使用的建築物，像旅館、百貨、醫院等，營建署將強制列入第一波公共安全檢查名單，優先確認結構安全，若無法達到耐震能力將要求立即改善。