The land ministry will conduct research and development to build structure exteriors that can better withstand earthquakes, officials said Tuesday.
A magnitude 5.4 tremor in the southeastern city of Pohang on Nov. 15 showed a building's outer surface falling apart, raising new safety concerns that current construction regulations do not address. The most recent regulation revisions in 2005 do not specify in detail how a structure's exterior needs to be built to hold together, officials said.
This photo, filed Nov. 15, 2017, shows a town in the southeastern port city of Pohang devastated by the magnitude 5.4 earthquake that hit the region that day. (Yonhap)
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