POSCO, the nation’s leading steelmaker, is on track to expand its development of earthquake-resistant steel products amid growing concerns about quake devastation, both here and abroad.
Calls have recently grown for the establishment of earthquake-proof buildings after a magnitude 7.8 quake hit southern Turkiye in February. The catastrophic quake destroyed more than 100,000 buildings.
Korea is not safe from earthquakes. In September 2016, a magnitude 5.8 earthquake hit the nation’s southern city of Gyeongju. The number of earthquakes has since gradually risen here.
Even though Korea’s building laws have required structures to follow seismic safety designs since 2000, about 80 percent of the buildings nationwide are not earthquake-proof.
In Korea, POSCO is standing at the forefront of developing and selling a variety of earthquake-resistant steel products. They include Steel New (SN) Steel and High-performance Steel for Architecture (HSA).
SN Steel is one of POSCO’s flagship earthquake resistant steel products. The company succeeded in its development in 1995 and received a KS (Korean Industrial Standards) certification in 1999. SN Steel is widely used for not just small-sized buildings, but big public facilities such as a gymnasium in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province. SN Steel was also used for key materials in Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport’s new terminal construction.
HSA is also POSCO’s earthquake-proof steel product with durability 1.7 times stronger than typical steel products. HSA is 30 percent lighter, so it is widely used for the construction of high-rise buildings, such as the Lotte World Tower which is the highest building in Korea.
“Earthquake-proof steel products will be in wider use, particularly for the construction of large-sized buildings and public facilities,” an official from POSCO said. “We will enhance our research and development of quake-resistant products to expand our footing in the market.”