356m tall skyscraper shaking; 15,000 people evacuated in emergency, tofu building, made in china

Look, isn't it tilted? The next building is Huaqiangbei. We're all out. It's too dangerous. At about 2 o'clock in the afternoon on May 19th, two merchants in the SEG building, on the 5th and 6th floors respectively, told reporters that the building had shaked between 1.30 and 2pm. The SEG Plaza building shakes and other related topics quickly rose to the top of the hot search list, and social media platforms quickly spread video clips taken by the netizens at the scene The Twitter user news slash truce uploaded the video taken at the scene and posted Shenzhen SEG Plaza actually shook today, scaring the people in the building and making them run out. There is a strong sense of 9-11 style panic. This building is about 20 years old. It really can't be called the skyscraper of tofu drags. Many netizens posted or left comments under these videos, describing their own escape experience and feelings in the SEG Plaza building. I work in the highest floor of the SEG Plaza. The vibration amplitude was really big. It was so scary. I have never run so hard in my life, from the 50th floor to the first floor. Even my shoes teared from all the running. Some netizens left messages on Weibo saying that the evacuation was like a doomsday escape. On the afternoon of the 18th, the Shenzhen Emergency Management Bureau posted on Weibo that on May 18th at 1.50pm, the Shenzhen Emergency Management Bureau duty room received report. The SEG Plaza building in Shenzhen Futian District, Huaqingbei Street started shaking. After the bureau viewed and analyzed the city's seismic monitoring station data, it was determined that no earthquakes had occurred that day. Located in Futian District, Shenzhen City, Guangdong Province, the 356 meter tall SEG building is the third tallest building in Shenzhen, as well as the tallest steel pipe and concrete structure in the world. Completed in 2000, it has become a landmark building of Shenzhen across the decades. The building has 79 floors total, with 75 floors above ground and 4 floors underground, with a total construction area of 170,000 square meters. It is home to the SEG Electronics Market, office, and living spaces. Shenzhen SEG Plaza was invested by Shenzhen SEG Group, and designed by the famous mainland architect Chen Shimin, who was awarded the second prize of National Science and Technology Progress Award in 2001. According to Chinese media, the design uses highly technical steel pipe and concrete structure, and was the first type of advanced technology adopted in China at the time. The use of this new technique makes the building's columns become slimmer, which saves ground space. Mainland media reported that the SEG Plaza building is now completely closed, and experts have entered the building for testing. The analysis provided by the expert group shows that there are no ground cracks in the surrounding sites of the building, and no curtain wall panels had fallen off. From preliminary judgment, the vibration had no effect on structural integrity. The cause of vibration needs to be further identified and is still under investigation. They recommend strengthening inspection and monitoring, since the cause of vibration has not yet been identified, it is recommended that personnel do not return for the time being. According to official sources, the preliminary judgment states that the building's shaking is caused by its own building structure. The chief engineer of Zhongke Construction Group's Huanan area, Lu Jianxin, has participated in the construction of Shenzhen's super high-rise building designs, such as the Shunxing Square, KK100, and the Ping'an Finance Center. He said, excluding the factors of earthquakes, the shaking is more likely caused by wind triggering resonance within the building. The situation is similar to the shaking of the Humen Bridge last year. At present, in the absence of a clear investigation result, this is the only explanation, and we'll leave it to the authorities to release the official report. Lu Jianxin also added that SEG Plaza is currently the world's tallest steel pipe and concrete structure building. Because of this occurrence, a more detailed analysis and inspection will be needed. For saying that the shaking was caused by strong winds, the official Weibo response of the Shenzhen Meteorological Bureau said, from 1 to 2 PM, Huaqiangbei Street SEG Plaza station measured a maximum instantaneous wind speed of level 5, and can't be categorized as strong wind. The mainland media reported that the SEG Plaza building started its main construction in 1996, and completed the 72-story tower in 1999, and the building was completed to the highest acceptable standards. The tower equipment installation and interior-exterior renovations were completed in 2000, and also met acceptance criteria. The General Rules for Civil Building Design, released by China, require that the durability of general buildings be 50 to 100 years. The Uniform Design Standard for Structural Reliability of Buildings require that the design service life of monumental buildings and particularly important structures be 50 years. However, the SEG Plaza building, which had just been put into service for 20 years, had experienced significant swaying, which brings to mind China's building quality problems. In the afternoon of May 5th, 2020, the Humen Bridge in Guangdong Province experienced unusual shaking. At the time, the Humen Bridge and its link project was 15.6 kilometers long. The main bridge is 4.6 kilometers long, and has a two-way, six-lane design. The bridge was completed and opened for use on June 9th, 1997. In 2002, Humen Bridge was awarded the Tianyouzhen Civil Engineering Prize, the highest honor for civil engineering in China. On May 6th, 2020, Guangdong Transportation Group informed that the vibration of Humen Bridge was a vortex-induced vibration, and the suspension bridge was structurally sound. After the preliminary judgment by the expert group, the main cause of the vortex-induced vibration was determined to be caused by the specific wind conditions. On May 11th, Radio Free Asia reported that the maintenance frequency of Humen Bridge is much higher than China's national standard, with the government requiring maintenance once every three years, while Humen Bridge is maintained once a year. The report clearly pointed out that there were problems with the slings and main cables of the bridge, such as the breakage of the wire rope on the 38th sling on the upstream side, which occurred at the inner anchor head of the steel box girder, and the rusting of the old cable from the inner surface. The inspection of the main cable found severe corrosion on the top and bottom of the midspan position. In fact, there are many buildings in China that had quality problems during the construction process. Last October, Mainland Media reported that Huantai County's Zhongnan Project in Zibo City of Shandong was constructing Building 19. The main frame shear wall deflection was 8 to 9 cm over the limit. In addition, the upper concrete frame of the walking staircase had visible displacement and deformation. Many places on the northern wall of the main structure were tilted or distorted. The frames and walls had serious displacements, and windows were deformed. The project company commissioned the Shandong Provincial Testing Center to conduct an appraisal, which issued an official appraisal report, concluding that the construction deviation did not affect the structural integrity, but affected the appearance and should be dealt with. The construction company of this project, a listed company with assets of more than 300 billion RMB, has won 14 national Luban Awards for construction projects, two national civil engineering Tianyoujian prizes, more than 70 provincial awards including the Quality Engineering Award, and more than 100 municipal awards such as City Excellence. Across the country, buildings that tilt or collapse due to structural issues are not uncommon. On March 29, 2010, Qiu Baoxing, then Vice Minister of China's Ministry of Health and Construction, said at the 6th International Conference on Green Building and Building Energy Efficiency that China as the country was the largest amount of new construction each year, yet it only lasts 25 to 30 years. According to statistics, China is the world's largest builder of new construction each year, with 2 billion square meters of new construction annually, equivalent to consuming 40% of the world's cement and steel. The building life, on the other hand, only lasts 25 to 30 years. The average lifespan of buildings in the UK reaches 132 years, while the lifespan of buildings in the US reaches 74 years. Industry analysts believe that factors such as design, construction personnel, and building materials are the causes of the short service life for Chinese buildings. Chinese building construction, in order to compress the project's schedule, typically uses the three-stages principle, that is, plan, design, and construct at the same time. In many cases, temporary changes in design or construction plans and hasty decisions often lead to follow-up problems. Any construction technique and technology have their corresponding time requirements, and cannot be ignored. For example, the concrete has strict requirements for setting time. Although it can be shortened by adding admixtures and other means, there's still a time restraint. Another example is the brick wall. The first layer of mortar must be solidified and reach a certain strength before the next layer of bricks can be stacked. Otherwise, it's easy to collapse or produce other safety hazards. Building construction personnel are farmers without professional training. In addition, the building construction market competition is fierce. In order to undertake the project, the construction company often gives low-price offers so the client is happy about the cost savings. In most cases, construction companies have to cut corners to save costs. Oftentimes, the company defaults on workers' wages in order to preserve profits, leading to a decline in labor motivation and obligation. All these factors affect construction quality. Chinese official media reported that the National Procuratorial Authorities have handled 25,635 civil cases in the past two years in support of migrant workers' lawsuits, helping them to collect 340 million yuan in wages. Most of these migrant workers are engaged in construction work. Construction materials are also a major factor in life. Higher quality correlates to higher prices, and some developers, in order to reduce costs and increase profits, only go after the cheapest of materials.