Singapore Buildings’ Maximum Tolerance against Wind and Earthquake Tremors

Mr Gan Thiam Poh asked the Minister for National Development what is the maximum wind speed and magnitude of earthquake tremors that buildings in Singapore can withstand.

Buildings in Singapore have to be designed according to the relevant building codes. Buildings are generally designed to withstand a maximum wind gust speed of up to 143 kilometres per hour. This is more than sufficient to cater to the wind gust speeds locally.

Singapore is not located in an earthquake zone. The nearest earthquake fault zone is located in Sumatra, more than 400 kilometres away. Over such a long distance, the seismic waves would have dissipated and lost most of their energy. Nevertheless, our buildings are designed to be sufficiently robust to withstand forces generated by distant earthquakes. For example, while tremors from the magnitude 9 earthquake in Aceh in 2004 could be felt in Singapore, there were no reports of structural damage to our buildings.