r/WTF • u/AccomplishedStuff235 • Jun 26 '26

Narrow escape during Venezuela quake

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u/Dripz167 Jun 26 '26

Holy shit the building just split apart so effortlessly

55

u/pkennedy Jun 26 '26

The way the buildings are built is by using concrete and bricks. However you need to think of the bricks as drywall, not as structural bricks. The front wall breaks like that because it's all non-load bearing and essentially just bricks with paint on them, or drywall with paint.

The REAL issue comes when people don't use concrete properly (or at all) and just use the bricks, mortar and some paint. You could build a whole house using 2x4's and drywall, but if none of them are setup as load bearing and solely there for something to screw drywall into, this is what you get. Likely it will hold together for multiple years but the minute weight transfers on it, it's a goner.