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Japan Tightens Building Rules After Quake Scandal
Tokyo (AFP) Dec 13, 2006 Japan on Wednesday toughened certification rules for architects to ensure that buildings can withstand earthquakes, following a data falsifying scandal that shocked the tremor-prone country. The upper house passed the revised law, which was earlier approved by the lower house. The measures will come into force within two years, a land ministry official said. Under the new laws, an architect will need to have five years experience to be certified as a "first-class" structural architect. Only such architects will have the right to design buildings that are more than 20 meters (66 feet) or three storeys high or with floor space of more than 5,000 square meters (53,800 square feet). Previously, architects needed only certification and there was no minimum timeframe for experience. Japan, which experiences 20 percent of the world's major tremors, prides itself on strictly enforcing quake-proof infrastructure. But it was shaken last year after architect Hidetsugu Aneha admitted falsifying earthquake resistance data for some condominiums and hotels around Japan. He pleaded guilty to charges in September. The government came up with an eight billion-yen (66 million-dollar) bailout plan to help residents move out of condominiums designed by Aneha.
Source: Agence France-Presse Community Email This Article Comment On This Article Related Links Bring Order To A World Of Disasters Bringing Order To A World Of Disasters A world of storm and tempest When the Earth Quakes
Durian's Aftermath: Disease Threatens Homeless Philippine Families
Guinobatan (AFP) Dec 08, 2006Medical aid was rushed to squalid Philippine evacuation sites Friday amid dire warnings that poor sanitation could trigger an outbreak of disease among hundreds of mudslide survivors. Babies and children sleep on the damp wooden floors of the elementary school turned into a temporary shelter for nearly 100 families in the township of Guinobatan in the eastern Bicol region, where entire villages were swept away by volcanic debris last week. |
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