Building demolition has become common now that cases of building collapse due to natural causes such as earthquakes and man-made causes such as poor workmanship are beginning to show up more commonly. Recently, two high-rise buildings collapsed in Kiambu town and currently Haiti has been hit by a severe earthquake.
Lack of Enforcement of the Building Code by the Local Authorities in provision for earthquake design factors in Haiti-2010[7.0 on the Richter scale] and China-Sichuan-2008[7.9 on the Richter scale] is largely blamed for the disaster since earthquakes do not kill people…only badly designed buildings do.
A well-designed building with a good earthquake Load Factor will withstand any typical earthquake without fatalities. The earthquake loading factor should be high in areas which are seismically unstable and it’s the duty of the Government through the relevant Local Authority to ensure that these Building Codes are followed. For example, the earthquake Load Factor for Nakuru which is in the Rift Valley should be higher than in Nairobi.
Demolition Method.
In such cases whereby people are still trapped in the buildings, careful choice of demolition method is important so as not to injure trapped people
read more on http://www.a4architect.c...r-a-disaster-earthquake/