“Aftershock: Will Bangkok’s Love Affair with Skyscrapers Survive the Quake?”

Bangkok, Thailand – In the bustling heart of Bangkok, Methinee Phoovatis kept a close watch on a small computer screen, looking for any signs of survivors.

All around Methinee, colleagues from Thailand’s Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (DDPM) were organizing numerous rescue workers who were making their way to a massive heap of rubble.

The rescue teams took turns searching for any signs of life beneath the extensive pile of concrete and steel that stood above them.

“We are desperately hoping for a miracle that some people are still alive,” Methinee, a planner and policy analyst with the DDPM, shared with Al Jazeera.

This effort came four days after a 7.7 magnitude earthquake struck Bangkok on March 28, and as time passed, Methinee and her team’s chances of finding survivors dwindled.

“We are doing everything we can for the people. We hope they are still alive,” she added, standing next to a whiteboard that indicated 73 individuals remained unaccounted for under the debris of the incomplete 30-story building intended to house Thailand’s National Audit Office.

Due to its shallow depth of just 10km (6.2 miles), the earthquake’s impact on the surface was significantly heightened.

Even though Bangkok is over 1,200km (750 miles) from the epicenter in Myanmar, where thousands lost their lives, the quake paralyzed the city. Residents of this urban hub, with a population exceeding 11 million, rushed into the streets seeking safety as buildings trembled.

As a month passed, life in the capital slowly resumed its usual rhythm.

However, the numerous fatalities, primarily at the site of the collapsed audit office, and the unsettling nature of the events from March 28, have raised concerns among some residents about the safety of living in high-rise buildings in one of the world’s tallest cities.

‘People were screaming’

A sudden wave of nausea and the swaying of lights in his ninth-floor apartment alerted Harry Yang to the danger.

“I rushed to my balcony, and everything was quaking,” said the 29-year-old, who has lived in Bangkok his entire life.

“People were screaming,” he recounted.

As he hurried down the emergency stairs, Yang thought of his elderly father on the 32nd floor of another high-rise in Bangkok, who has mobility challenges.

Although his father, an antique dealer, escaped unharmed, the quake destroyed many of his collectibles and left him shaken.

“My dad is 68 years old, has leg issues, and had to navigate down the stairs to get outside,” Yang explained.

People had valid reasons to be afraid. Social media clips depicted the city shaking, with debris falling and water cascading from the infinity pools atop skyscrapers.

Lapaphutch Lertsachanant was in her 27th-floor condominium when the shock struck.

“The building was literally swaying side to side. I genuinely felt at that moment that it could split in half,” Lapaphutch recalled.

“I thought I wouldn’t make it,” she said, sharing her desire to talk to her partner one last time. “I wanted to say my final words to him. I was prepared to end my life with him in my thoughts.”

While seismic activity is common in Southeast Asia, the magnitude of the earthquake that struck Myanmar – where over 3,700 lives were lost – and affected Bangkok caught many off-guard.

Wang Yu, an associate professor of geosciences at National Taiwan University, pointed out that Myanmar sits directly on a fault line, the Sagaing Fault, and the March 28 earthquake stemmed from a different fault involving the India and Eurasian plates.

According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), a strike-slip fault is where two tectonic plates move horizontally past one another. Since 1900, USGS data shows that six significant earthquakes of magnitude 7.0 or greater occurred within 250km (155 miles) of the March 28 epicenter in Myanmar.

Wang Yu explained that Bangkok is built atop unstable soil, which can amplify the effects of earthquakes.

“As seismic waves travel into the basin, their amplitude increases,” he noted.

However, the specific cause of the building’s collapse in central Bangkok is still being investigated. No other structure in the area experienced such a catastrophic failure, even though several showed signs of damage. Thai officials have initiated an inquiry to determine if building codes were followed correctly.

‘Earthquake Resistant Design’

Seismic regulations for buildings in Thailand were first introduced in 1997. A decade later, in 2007, updated laws mandated that structures taller than 15 meters (49ft) in regions like Bangkok, which are at high risk, must be designed to endure earthquakes of up to magnitude 7.0. In 2009, the Thai Department of Public Works and Town and Country Planning rolled out a thorough “Standard for Earthquake Resistant Design of Buildings”.

These building codes have raised concerns about how the nearly-finished structure in Bangkok could have collapsed.

“We need to identify the underlying issues to learn lessons that could help refine our building regulations,” stated Bangkok Governor Chadchart Sittipunt shortly after the quake, as local officials dispersed throughout Thailand to evaluate buildings for structural integrity.

Most have been found to comply with safety standards so far.

On April 3, just six days post-earthquake, Bangkok’s Metropolitan Authority announced an end to the “disaster situation” across the city, only maintaining it at the site of the building collapse.

A month after the earthquake, many residents are still worried due to visible cracks and other damages in their high-rise apartments, which contribute to ongoing feelings of insecurity.

Even though engineers have confirmed that his apartment is safe, 32-year-old Varuth Pongsapipatt finds the cracks in his walls unsettling but is learning to cope.

“It’s pretty frightening, but it doesn’t compromise the building’s integrity, so it’s fine,” he shared with Al Jazeera.

After the elevator in her building was put out of service due to the earthquake, Lapaphutch spent nearly three weeks living with her parents, and she isn’t eager to return to her home on the 27th floor.

“I don’t feel safe going back to a tall building,” she expressed.

Harry Yang mentioned that his father has chosen to stay away from their 32-floor apartment, concerned about possible aftershocks.

“My parents are really worried. Since the earthquake, my dad has been in a hotel,” Yang told Al Jazeera earlier this month.

Slow Response

A study by Thailand’s National Institute of Development Administration (NIDA) found that about 68 percent of participants were anxious about the stability and safety of buildings.

Some are also concerned about the implications for the real estate market.

“I’m worried about property values,” Yang noted.

“I believe this will significantly affect the property market and consumer confidence. Many people are looking to relocate,” he added.

After the quake, Thai financial experts forecasted that condominium sales might decline as prospective buyers hesitate to invest in high-rises in Bangkok, exacerbating pressures on the nation’s real estate sector.

“The March 28 earthquake is likely to boost demand for low-rise homes, seen as safer from seismic activity. This trend echoes the shift post-2011 flooding, when buyers preferred condos over low-rise residences,” reported the Bangkok Post earlier this month.

The earthquake also highlighted major flaws in Thailand’s emergency alert system.

While an earthquake warning system was intended to keep citizens informed, it seemed to be limited, able to send messages in groups of only 200,000, which created delays in communication across a country of nearly 72 million.

Harry Yang mentioned that neither he nor his parents received any emergency alerts and had to search online for updates after the earthquake struck.

Weeks later, Bangkok resident Lapaphutch stated that she also hadn’t received any emergency notifications.

“We definitely need a reliable alert system,” she argued. “Everyone in Thailand should be reviewing these alerts to ensure we are prepared.”

The NIDA survey revealed that nearly 60 percent of respondents were worried about how effective the early warning systems are. Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra has called for enhancements to the system, proposing that the capacity for sending alerts be increased to 1 million at a time, according to local reports.

Despite these issues, Thailand came through the quake relatively well.

Just a short distance from the collapsed building, Bangkok’s Chatuchak Weekend Market was vibrant with tourists just days after the tremor, and the events felt almost like a distant memory in a city that never truly rests.

Harry Yang resonated with this sentiment.

Initially, Bangkok residents were frightened, but they would eventually regain their normalcy, he stated.

“Things are going to return to normal eventually.”