Another Japan firm admits falsifying data for earthquake shock absorbers

TOKYO: A Japanese company supplying equipment to protect buildings from earthquakes has admitted falsifying data, authorities said yesterday, a week after a Tokyo-based firm revealed a similar fraud.

Kawakin Holdings’ oil damper unit altered data for products installed at 93 education facilities, government buildings and offices, the land ministry said.

“I deeply apologise for causing great concerns and trouble,” Kawakin president Shinkichi Suzuki told reporters.

The ministry has instructed the company to immediately change affected parts and to investigate why the data manipulation happened.

The company will disclose the names of the buildings once owners agree to do so.

The admission comes after Tokyo-based parts maker KYB and its unit Kayaba System Machinery announced it had falsified oil dampers data used in nearly 1,000 buildings across Japan.

Local media reported they may include the Tokyo Skytree – one of the world’s tallest buildings at 634 metres– as well as the Tokyo local government’s headquarters.

The authorities, however, stressed there was no immediate safety risk.

So- called oil dampers – or shock absorbers – are part of a complex system fitted in many Japanese buildings as part of the country’s earthquake preparedness.

They are meant to function in tandem with systems built into the foundations to isolate the effects of quakes. — AFP