ID :
193348
Wed, 07/06/2011 - 18:00
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https://oananews.org//node/193348
The shortlink copeid
Seoul to lift evacuation order on shaken shopping mall
(2nd LD)SEOUL, July 6 (Yonhap) -- Seoul's district office said Wednesday that it plans to lift an eviction order placed on a shaky high-rise shopping mall as experts have not found structural safety problems for the building, which rocked up and down a day earlier.
Hundreds of people evacuated the 39-story TechnoMart shopping mall in the Gwangjin District in the eastern part of Seoul late Tuesday morning as the upper part of the building began rocking up and down for about 10 minutes for unknown reasons.
In order to find the reason for the swaying, the Gwangjin ward office issued a three-day evacuation order and has blocked public access since late Tuesday.
"The emergency safety check revealed that no severe problems were found for the building. We will continue to find the exact cause of the rocking and will lift an evacuation order as of Thursday," said Park Jong-yong, vice chief of the Gwangjin ward office.
But Park said the district office will continue to block public access to part of the building's multiplex theaters and restrict people from using a fitness center, as potential vibrations in those facilities might cause the building to rock.
A response team plans to set up vibration measuring instruments at the upper part of the building and conduct a three-month thorough checkup to find the exact cause of the swaying.
The rocking was not likely caused by an earthquake, as no signs of a quake were detected at the time of the incident, experts noted.
Despite the lifting of the evacuation order, people who work at the upper part of the building said they cannot easily shake concerns about safety.
"I cannot easily accept the authenticity of the announcement that there are no safety problems as experts have yet to find the exact cause of the rocking," said an office worker, surnamed Yoon.
The three-day halt, meanwhile, could have incurred as much as 9 billion won (US$8.5 million) in losses to about 12,000 retailers forced to suspend their business due to the evacuation order, said Prime Management, the building maintenance firm in charge of TechnoMart mall.
The skyscraper accommodates more than a thousand retailers selling electronics, houseware products and books, as well as a multiplex and a number of commercial offices.
Hundreds of people evacuated the 39-story TechnoMart shopping mall in the Gwangjin District in the eastern part of Seoul late Tuesday morning as the upper part of the building began rocking up and down for about 10 minutes for unknown reasons.
In order to find the reason for the swaying, the Gwangjin ward office issued a three-day evacuation order and has blocked public access since late Tuesday.
"The emergency safety check revealed that no severe problems were found for the building. We will continue to find the exact cause of the rocking and will lift an evacuation order as of Thursday," said Park Jong-yong, vice chief of the Gwangjin ward office.
But Park said the district office will continue to block public access to part of the building's multiplex theaters and restrict people from using a fitness center, as potential vibrations in those facilities might cause the building to rock.
A response team plans to set up vibration measuring instruments at the upper part of the building and conduct a three-month thorough checkup to find the exact cause of the swaying.
The rocking was not likely caused by an earthquake, as no signs of a quake were detected at the time of the incident, experts noted.
Despite the lifting of the evacuation order, people who work at the upper part of the building said they cannot easily shake concerns about safety.
"I cannot easily accept the authenticity of the announcement that there are no safety problems as experts have yet to find the exact cause of the rocking," said an office worker, surnamed Yoon.
The three-day halt, meanwhile, could have incurred as much as 9 billion won (US$8.5 million) in losses to about 12,000 retailers forced to suspend their business due to the evacuation order, said Prime Management, the building maintenance firm in charge of TechnoMart mall.
The skyscraper accommodates more than a thousand retailers selling electronics, houseware products and books, as well as a multiplex and a number of commercial offices.
