Collapsing Buildings and Roadways

[Starr DiGiacomo]

Highway collapse, Jingdong, China, 03.11.25

Building Collapse in Manchester, UK

October 17, 2025, a playground collapsed at Zijiang School in Shaoyang City, Hunan Province, fortunately no casualties were reported. The Zijiang School playground collapse emergency response headquarters announced on Saturday that they have begun an investigation to the cause.

The emergency response headquarters confirmed that the west wall and some playgrounds of the campus of the school collapsed, and the corners of the west side of the Boxue Building (teaching building) were damaged.

ZETATALK: THE STRETCH ZONE, THAT SINKING FEELING

ZetaTalk explores the concept of Earth's "stretch zones"—regions where tectonic plates are being pulled apart due to planetary forces, particularly in anticipation of a predicted pole shift. It focuses heavily on the eastern seaboard of the U.S., the Caribbean, and parts of Europe, warning that these areas will experience significant land subsidence due to the widening of the Atlantic Rift.

Key points include:

• Historical evidence of submerged forests and civilizations off the U.S. East Coast and Bermuda.

• Predictions that areas like Florida, Georgia, and the UK will lose elevation and be permanently flooded.

• A detailed catalog of sinkholes, train derailments, infrastructure collapses, and mysterious odors from 2004–2005, interpreted as signs of Earth stretching.

• The concept of “imploding cities”, where underground infrastructure fails due to shifting rock layers.

• Warnings to relocate from vulnerable coastal and low-lying areas before the pole shift occurs.

More: https://www.zetatalk.com/index/blog1010.htm

[Howard]

Building Implodes In Philadelphia

"An abandoned Philadelphia building collapsed early Monday morning, sending debris tumbling into the street at a busy intersection.

The collapse happened in the Strawberry Mansion section of Philadelphia, at the corner of 27th and West York Streets.

"I just heard a big bang," said Melissa Aguilar, who heard from inside her 27th Street home early Monday morning as she and her two daughters startled from their sleep.

Rubble from the two-story building tumbled into the street, burying the sidewalk and half the intersection."

[Howard]

1 Killed, 12 Injured as Building Collapses in Pakistan

One woman was killed and 12 others including 6 children were injured when a three-storey building collapsed in Pakistan's central city of Multan on Friday night, said rescue workers and hospital sources.

A local photo journalist in Multan told Xinhua on the phone that hospital sources in the city told him that one woman injured in the incident later died at the hospital.

All the 12 others trapped in the collapsed building have been rescued and shifted to local hospital, the source in Multan told Xinhua by quoting rescue workers.

Earlier reports by some local media said that 16 people were trapped under the debris after the building collapsed.

[Howard]

Another Building Collapse in Beirut

BEIRUT: A building adjacent to the one that collapsed last week in Tabarja, in the district of Kesrouan, collapsed Tuesday.

No injuries have been reported.

Members of the Lebanese Army, who had been stationed some 200 meters from the building at the time of the collapse, were covered in thick coats of dust caused by the collapse.

On March 9, seven people were injured when a building collapsed in the vicinity of Tabarja Beach complex.

[Howard]

Buildings Collapse in Three Lebanon Cities

TRIPOLI, Lebanon: Tragedy was narrowly averted in the northern city of Tripoli over the weekend when the roof of a building housing 40 people collapsed. Two other buildings collapsed elsewhere in the country (Tyre and Metn), but no injuries were reported.The four-story building, located in Bab al-Tabbaneh neighborhood of Tripoli, was inhabited by members of one extended family. Residents rushed outside after sensing that the roof was about to fall Saturday.

“We felt ... the building shaking, so we evacuated it immediately,” said Samir Hijazi, the eldest member of the family. Hijazi said that he sent the municipality a request to renovate his apartment six months ago, but received no permit.

Fadi Soda, another resident, complained that Tripoli’s municipality denied him a permit to repair his apartment. “We worked on repairing it by ourselves but police stopped us.”

“We appeal to Prime Minister [Najib Mikati], ministers and officials of this city to look into our case and help us given the tragedy we are experiencing,” he added.

“We have no shelter now.”

Tripoli’s Mayor Nader Ghazal examined the scene early Saturday morning and followed up on efforts by municipality officials to clear the rubble.

“Since 2010, the municipality has been sending letters to the Council of Development and Reconstruction and the Transport and Public Works Ministry, explaining that tragedy threatens the city, especially the old city,” Ghazal said.

“Dozens of buildings are at risk of collapse and are crowded with people who are poor and cannot afford to move to another place,” he added.

Ghazal said that the municipality had asked officials to provide help before it’s too late, lamenting that they had received little response.

“Today, we are witnessing only one episode of the series ... and we really hope and urge the authorities to swiftly assume their responsibilities because people and the country can’t endure this any longer,” he said.

Ghazal said that the municipality had received more than 200 complaints about buildings at risk of collapse. “But we are not capable of renovating or doing repair works,” he said.

Another near disaster took place in the city of Tyre when Samir Sabrawi and his nine-member family fled their home in the old city when parts of it began to crumble while they were asleep. The city’s municipality ordered officials to examine the site.

Also Saturday, mudslides caused the collapse of the wall of a church in the Metn village of Atshaneh, near Khinshara. Two cars were damaged.

[Howard]

Church Collapses in Freeport, IL (March 14)

The Lavon Harkins Ministries International “Revival Center” Church, 109 S. Sherman St. in Freeport, collapsed this morning.

“A neighborhood woman heard a loud noise and looked out to see that it had fallen,” said Captain Mark Morson of the Freeport Fire Department. “It had been boarded up since last fall.”

Firefighters said they believe the church had been exposed to flooding in the past and noted that the roof had been patched in areas.

“Our guess is that the building has had a lot of time and neglect,” said firefighter Scott Stykel. “The best part of it is that no one was hurt.”

ComEd trucks are on the scene to cut electricity to the building with Nicor expected to arrive to stop any gas flow. City of Freeport workers also are working to demolish any unstable portions of the building to prevent further collapse.

[bill]

5-storey building caves in

Bangalore, Mar 13,2012, DHNS:

A five-storey building under construction at Vinayaka Layout near Electronic City caved in dramatically on Tuesday, apparently due to a weak foundation and poor quality of materials used in the construction. No casualty or injuries were reported.

It would have easily been a man-made disaster had the civil defence volunteers not rushed to the spot immediately and evacuated two adjacent buildings as a precaution. 

The drama began unfolding  around 6 am. Neighbours told Deccan Herald that they first heard a loud sound. It took a while for them to figure out that the building had caved in without actually collapsing. The structure stood menacingly like a leaning tower, precariously close to a collapse. 

With tension mounting, the local police and a team of 10 civil defence volunteers took charge of the situation by 9 am. Power supply was cut off and the volunteers evacuated people from the adjoining buildings. Gas cylinders and other inflammable material were also removed. Shwetha, the owner of an adjacent five-storey building said she was worried that her property would be damaged in the process of demolition. She said that many occupants of her building had gone out to work, and some had taken shelter with their friends or relatives. 

The Madivala police, who looked for the building’s owner, Vijaykumar, of Vellore, Tamil Nadu, and a resident of V V Puram, Bangalore, found him untraceable. His mobile phone was switched off. A case was registered against him.

The Public Works Department engineers who visited the spot recommended demolition of the building. They also found that the foundation was shallow and was constructed on loose soil.

Neighbours claimed that the construction was a rush job, with all the five floors raised in barely four months, leaving no time for curing.

M K Ayyappa, Deputy Commissioner, Bangalore, visited the spot by evening. He relegated the demolition work to a private contractor, Shree Chetana Services, the expenses of which would be borne by the owner. 

The firm has started the demolition work, using a Fokline breaker.  Krishna Murthy, the contractor, said first he would reduce the weight on the other side of the building at the third floor to stabilise the building before going for a demolition exercise from the top floor. He added that the exercise would take around three days to complete. 

The building comes under the Shanthipura grampanchayat. Surprisingly, the five-storeyed structure clearly violates the panchayat rules which permit construction of buildings up to two floors. Police sources said the building had no plan approval by any planning authority

[Starr DiGiacomo]

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/world/206206-killed-in-republic-o...

An unusual circumstance as a munitions depot explodes collapsing buildings. 

206 killed in Republic of Congo arms depot blasts

Posted: 3:56 a.m. Sunday, March 4, 2012

BRAZZAVILLE, Republic of Congo — Houses and buildings collapsed in the Congolese capital Sunday, entombing inhabitants after an arms depot exploded, killing at least 206 people, officials said, including dozens attending Mass in a church that buckled under the force of the blast.

The shock waves shattered windows in a three-mile (five-kilometer) radius surrounding the arms depot, including across the river that separates Brazzaville, the capital of the Republic of Congo, from Kinshasa, the capital of the larger Central African nation of Congo.

"It's like a tsunami passed through here," said Christine Ibata, a student. "The quarter has practically collapsed, with roofs of houses blown off."

A morgue in Brazzaville took in 136 bodies Sunday afternoon, as more continued to arrive. A local hospital reported at least 237 patients wounded in the blasts. President Denis Sassou-Nguesso toured two hospitals and a morgue as dozens of injured people were being brought in including a 4-year-old who had lost his leg. The president was visibly moved, but made no public comments.

It's unclear what started the fire at the weapons depot, but an official at the president's office said the depot is used to store war-grade weapons including mortars. The first blast went off at around 8 a.m., and several smaller blasts were heard throughout the morning. Another major explosion went off at around 1 p.m.

Defense Minister Charles Zacharie Boawo appeared on national television to urge calm in Brazzaville and in the neighboring capital, Kinshasa.

"The explosions that you have heard don't mean there is a war or a coup d'etat," he said. "Nor does it mean there was a mutiny. It is an incident caused by a fire at the munitions depot."

Didier Boutsindi, an official in the president's office, said the explosion woke him "with the force of an earthquake." Doors in his house, which is located several miles away from the arms depot, were thrown open and several windows cracked. He began making calls, and when he realized the origin of the blast, his first thought was his uncle, whose home is located just next to the depot.

"The house fell completely," Boutsindi said. "He was sleeping. His wife was at church. His children — small children — were playing outside," he said. "The neighbors dug out the body and brought him to the morgue."

The body was among the countless others that were being brought in by car, on stretchers, and carried by shell-shocked residents. The death toll is likely to rise, Boutsindi said, as many more people remained trapped inside crushed structures, including the faithful of the St. Louis Church, who were attending Mass when the blasts began.

The munitions depot is near the president's private residence, but he was at his official residence in another part of town and was not hurt. The explosions caused buildings to shake as far away as Kinshasa, separated from Brazzaville by the 3-mile wide Congo River. An enormous plume of smoke could be seen snaking across the sky.  Story continues:

[Starr DiGiacomo]

http://www.tribune.com.ng/index.php/news/36960-3-die-as-building-co...

3 die as building collapses in Awka

Friday, 02 March 2012

THREE persons were feared killed while some were trapped when a two-storey building collapsed at Kwata junction, Awka, on the Onitsha-Enugu expressway.

The incident happened the day the body of the late Chukwuemeka Odumegwu- Ojukwu was being received at Ekwueme Square, Awka.

 Rescue operators from the state Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), the state police command, Federal Road Safety Corp (FRSC) and  National Security and Defence Corps quickly mobilised and moved cranes to rescue the victims.

One Friday Awo, who escaped unscathed, said out of the 15 persons in the building, seven were lucky to have escaped, adding that he would have been among the victims if he and four others had not gone out to eat.

He said though the first contractor handling  construction works on the building had stopped work, another contractor started on Monday, while he blamed the shoddy job by the first contactor for the collapse.

Chief Lawrence Chinwuba, Governor Peter Obi’s Special Adviser on Housing and Urban Development, described the incident as unfortunate.

He said the incident should not have happened the day the late   Ojukwu was being honoured.

According to him, “we were at Alex Ekwueme square when I was called and when I came, I saw the legs of some people that were trapped.

 He noted that the incident could be as a result of sub standard materials.

As of the time of filing the roport, Chinwuba said it was difficult to ascertain the number of causalties.

Those injured were taken to the general hospital Amaku, Awka by a combined team of FRSC and SEMA officials.

An eyewitness, Me Christian Ezenwafor (a structural engineer) said the incident happened as a result of the additional 16mm rod imposed on a lighter 12mm one which was used at the commencement of the  building construction.

[Starr DiGiacomo]

http://www.myfoxny.com/dpp/news/report-building-collapse-in-harlem-...

Trench Collapse In Harlem

Man Trapped Underground Rescued

Published : Friday, 02 Mar 2012, 11:36 AM EST

MYFOXNY.COM - Fire Department and emergency personnel are on the scene of a collapse a E. 122nd St. and Park Ave. in East Harlem.

A man was safely rescued after being trapped underground, according to FOX 5 News reporter Tai Hernandez.

Firefighters used a vacuum to remove dirt and debris from the trench where had was reportedly buried up to his shoulders.

It is not clear if a building- or a trench between two buildings- collapsed, trapping the man.

A photo on Twitter of the scene showed at least a dozen emergency personnel huddled around what appeared to be the side of a building.

The man was loaded onto an ambulance and whisked away at about 12:20 p.m., added Tai Hernandez.

E. 122nd Street was closed between Park Ave. and Lexington Ave.

Read more: http://www.myfoxny.com/dpp/news/report-building-collapse-in-harlem-...

[Starr DiGiacomo]

http://austrianindependent.com/news/General_News/2012-03-02/10462/W...

02. 03. 12. - 16:20

Wine cellars disappear into the deep

Two historic wine pressing houses disappeared into the ground during the night yesterday (Thurs/Fri) in Austria. A local resident noticed the partly collapsed wineries in the early hours of this morning (Friday). The ground beneath the old buildings had been weakened as a result of a burst water pipe.

The street of wine cellars in Groß Kadholz, one of the oldest parts of the Pulkautal region in Austria, was completely closed off this morning for fears of further collapse. Several metres of the local road disappeared as well as the two houses. The historical buildings contained the oldest wine presses in the area but are now in a state of disrepair.

General wear and tear of the old buildings, as well as a water pipe damaged by frost, are being held responsible for the incident. The main water pipe running through the street, which had been damaged by cold weather, had been cut off completely on Wednesday. It was too late however and the large amounts of water escaping from the broken pipe flowed into the cellars.

The soaked walls eventually gave way in the middle of the night on Thursday causing the floors to fall into the sodden ground, taking much of the contents of the upstairs with them. The extent and cost of the damage is not yet known and experts are currently working to establish the exact cause of the collapse.