Myanmar officials inspect quake-damaged buildings, plan safer designs

Government officials rolled up their sleeves to check out earthquake damage across the capital city yesterday. Deputy Prime Minister General Maung Maung Aye led the inspection team through cracked buildings and broken offices. The defense chief brought along other top ministers and the city council chairman for the tour. They walked through government offices that got hit hard when the ground started shaking. The team wanted to see which buildings could be saved and which ones needed to come down.

The inspection crew stopped at the Foreign Affairs Ministry and the Transport Ministry first. Workers had already started fixing a four-story building that suffered cracks during the tremors. The officials checked out staff apartments in two different neighborhoods around town. They watched crews sort through broken concrete and metal pieces from the damaged structures. The team made sure workers were cleaning up the mess properly and reusing materials when possible.

Special task forces had already marked buildings with different colors based on damage levels. Blue buildings got priority treatment because they could be fixed up quickly and safely. Orange buildings needed more serious repairs and had to follow strict safety rules. The worst damaged structures were getting torn down completely to make room for new construction. Engineers are drawing up plans for super-strong buildings that can handle earthquakes up to magnitude 8 on the scale.