30 S'pore buildings in tremor-affected areas inspected
(Updated at 10:30pm - SPF, SCDF, HDB, BCA joint statement added)
30 buildings in Singapore have been inspected and found to be structurally safe after tremors were felt following a huge earthquake off Indonesia at 4:38pm on Wednesday.
The Building and Construction Authority (BCA) and Housing Development Board (HDB) inspected buildings in the Central Business District (CBD), Beach Road, Temasek Boulevard, Selegie, Toa Payoh, Ang Mo Kio, Serangoon North, Punggol, Woodlands, Geylang Bahru, Geylang and Siglap, where tremors were reported.
Members of the public felt buildings sway in different parts of the city-state after an 8.6-magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Indonesia’s island of Sumatra. A few offices temporarily evacuated staff.
The Singapore Police Force and Singapore Civil Defence Force said they received 38 calls from the public reporting tremors in certain parts of Singapore.
Facebook user Siva Sai Saravanan told Yahoo! Singapore that he felt tremors at Block 107 Jalan Rajah.
“My father and I experienced our flat swaying for a long time. The pails in our bathroom, filled with water started spilling by themselves.This happened at around 4:45pm,” Siva said.
Another Facebook user, Siti, said, “ I thought I felt the building tilting at around 3.10pm in Choa Chu Kang. Was wondering if I was dizzy.”
Media planner Lyndsey Long was sitting in her office in Beach Road when she felt the tremors for about a minute.
"I felt giddy, and could feel myself swaying slightly... I also felt a little nauseous," she told Yahoo! Singapore, adding that her entire office was temporarily evacuated from the building she was in. She also observed that some of the people at the adjacent Golden Mile Tower were evacuated at the same time.
Facebook user Tommy Teo, who lives in Yishun, said he felt the tremors and saw his chair moving.
“I was in my master bed room doing some computer work this afternoon and felt my chair was moving. I asked my daughter and son, and they said they felt some tremors.This was definitely an earthquake in Indonesia. Minutes later the internet was abuzz with news of a major earthquake,” said Teo.
Final-year undergraduate Philemon Foo was at home in Bedok when he felt the tremors.
“It started slow -- I felt my roller chair oscillating,” he said. “I didn’t think much about it at first, but then the oscillations got slightly more pronounced and I got a little worried as they didn’t stop even after 30 seconds,” he added.
He said the tremors in his house lasted for what seemed like two minutes, and saw items in his house like drawstrings and clothes hangers swaying in unison.
“It was quite long to me, that’s what made the experience scary,” he added.
Yahoo! user Foo Kee Mak said that he contacted a friend in Padang, a few hundred kilometres from the epicentre, and was told he felt the quake for two minutes.
The quake struck 431 kilometres off Banda Aceh, located on the northern tip of the Indonesian island of Sumatra.
A tsunami watch has been raised for the entire Indian Ocean, and countries such as Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, India and Singapore but it has been lifted.
The National Environment Agency said a regional tsunami may be generated but is unlikely to affect Singapore.
In Sumatra, residents were shaken by the quake, though it did not seem to have been felt strongly in Jakarta.
78-year-old Tandio who was in Pematang Siantar (a town north of Medan, Sumatra) said, “My heart started palpitating and felt like I was falling. Thought it was my heart so I took medication.”
Singapore-based freelance translator Belda Kosasih who is currently in Jak arta said she didn’t feel a thing.
She expressed concern for Indonesians living near the epicenter though.
“We're worried for Aceh because when the tsunami happened in 2004, it really devastated the place,” said Kosasih.
The tremors of the Sumatra quake were felt as far away as Thailand and Southern India, reported Reuters.
Should cracks or other structural defects be subsequently sighted, residents or occupants in public housing estates should call the HDB’s emergency service providers’ 24-hour hotline at 1800-325 8888, 1800-6275 5555, or 1800-6354 3333.
Those in private buildings should call the BCA at 6325 7191 or 6325 7393.
Additional reporting by Jeanette Tan, Ewen Boey and Deborah Choo
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