TOKYO: A company supplying equipment to protect major buildings in Japan from earthquakes has admitted falsifying data, authorities said Wednesday (Oct 17), stressing there was…
TOKYO: A company supplying equipment to protect major buildings in Japan from earthquakes has admitted falsifying data, authorities said Wednesday (Oct 17), stressing there was no immediate safety risk.
Tokyo-based parts maker KYB and its unit Kayaba System Machinery falsified data linked to so-called « oil dampers », which are used in nearly 1,000 buildings across Japan, the land ministry said.
The ministry declined to name buildings affected but local media reported may they include the Tokyo Skytree – one of the world’s tallest buildings at 634m – as well as the Tokyo local government’s headquarters.
The ministry has instructed the companies involved to change affected parts as soon as possible and to investigate why the data manipulation happened.
But it insisted that buildings using the parts would still withstand even a quake at the top end of the Japanese seismic intensity scale – in which « it is impossible to remain standing » and « people may be thrown through the air ».
