Jakarta to reassess buildings’ quake resilience

In the wake of a massive earthquake that caused widespread destruction in Japan last week, the Jakarta Administration says it plans to assess the earthquake safety levels of buildings in Jakarta.

One city official said Jakarta did not adopt the same building construction standards as Japan, which mandates that buildings have quake-proof architecture.

“For earthquakes, we adhere to the national regulations on earthquakes and not those used in Japan. We are evaluating the guide and the updated version will be issued by the Public Works Ministry,” Pandita from the Jakarta Building Monitoring and Supervisory Agency, said Monday, as quoted by kompas.com.

However, his statement contradicted an earlier statement made by Jakarta Governor Fauzi Bowo, who said Jakarta's buildings were in fact as safe as those in Japan, because they were built according to Japanese building standards.
“Indonesia's buildings have been using earthquake-proof construction standards since the 1970s, but each country has different standards...” Pandita said.

He added Jakarta’s susceptibility to earthquakes was moderate, unlike higher-risk areas along the southern coast of Sumatra.