Quake: Expert nixes reinforced concrete buildings

(ANSA) - Rome, August 25 - Authorities need to get up to speed on the fact that reinforced concrete is not anti-seismic, as proven by yesterday's near-collapse of a 2012 school in the quake-stricken village of Amatrice, an expert said Thursday.
    "As already happened in previous Italy earthquakes, reinforced concrete does not absolutely guarantee safety," said Claudio Del Medico Fasano, who is the president of the Ecological School Association.
    At least 180 people were killed in Amatrice, a medieval town with some 21st-century construction, after a 6.2-magnitude earthquake flattened it before dawn on Wednesday.
    He said the only truly anti-seismic buildings are those made out of wood and structural panels with rigid frames.
    Buildings with latest-generation ecological walls are conceived "to save human lives", he said in a statement.
    "Italy is total seismic and we're living in a constant emergency instead of focusing our efforts on prevention, building with evolved anti-seismic techniques and leaving behind the old cement-based schemes".
    Those old schemes have proven to be dangerous failures, he said.