The Canberra Times has an interesting interview with the Australian Seismological Centre’s Kevin McCue who comes across as a little weary.
Intriguingly he tells that the only buildings in Canberra built to withstand an earthquake are Parliament House, the Deakin phone exchange, and Black Mountain Tower.
Mr McCue is concerned about the lack of earthquake-resistant buildings in Canberra and can only list three structures that have been built to withstand a violent tremor; Black Mountain Tower, Parliament House and Deakin Telephone Exchange. ”The Commonwealth Department of Works considered earthquake resistance for Commonwealth buildings but phased that out in the late 1970s. Nowadays we have a building certifier who does the same thing but doesn’t have the same training in earthquake engineering. Our hospitals have not been designed to withstand earthquakes and neither have our schools.”
Is this something we should be concerned about though?