‘The maximum intensity for this earthquake was violent but not necessarily enough to bring well constructed buildings down,” says David Alexander, Professor of Emergency Planning and Management at University College London.
“In most places the level of shaking was less than the maximum, so we can conclude out of the thousands of buildings that collapsed, almost all of them don’t stand up to any reasonably expected earthquake construction code”‘ (BBC News, 9 February).
You know why? Because cowboy builders and property owners can save money that way. It’s only poor people who suffer, and who cares about them, right? Earthquakes would kill far fewer if it weren’t for capitalism prioritising profit over safety and common decency.