This news is slightly old now, although I guess it’s not because it’s now the beginning of July, so that means it’s only two weeks old. I wanted to discuss it earlier, but didn’t have the time.
There was an earthquake north of Osaka on June 18, 2018. Here is a link:
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/japan-earthquake-osaka-today-2018-06-17/
It was a 6.1 quake. Being so far south of me, it did not affect the me or the Fukushima area at all.
Still, 6.1 is a very big quake. Modern buildings and constructions here are supposed to be constructed to withstand intense shaking. The best technology is used.
However…. sometimes construction is NOT quake-proof. A nine-year-old girl was killed during the quake on June 18 when a tall and heavy cement wall collapsed onto the top of her. I’ve heard that that wall was NOT up to industry standards.
https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20180620/p2a/00m/0na/016000c
From the above editorial from the Daily Mainichi: the wall was “well above the height allowable under the Building Standards Act. No efforts were made to bring the wall up to code. ” So basically something was awry here.
Anyway, we in Japan are told it is safer to remain indoors (generally speaking) than to go outside, due to items that may fall on a person outdoors.
I feel so sorry for the girl who was killed and hope that architects, builders and the people who approve structures all stay honest and do their jobs well in the future.
