Try as i might i cannot picture how the building looked before collapse , if , as it would seem , the building has literally fell over the front part of it at least has survived surprisingly well , if you drop a few million tonne it is going to break no matter how it was constructed .
I am wondering if it had an underground carpark which would make it a building on stilts , the initial contractor went bankrupt
It looks to me that the foundation end of the building is on the left, with the roof end to the right of the photo.
The pivot point of the collapse would then be where the above ground part of the structure departed from the foundation, and the in-tact left hand side or lower part would be consistent with the right hand upper part of the structure, which obviously suffered more damage as a consequence of the severe impact with the ground having fallen from a height of 11 storeys.
The line of force and strength of a structure would normally pass in straight line vectors vertically, passing through the structure from the top to the bottom including the foundation.
Most taller buildings rely on piled foundations, which go deep into the ground and either by friction or end bearing on rock strata, offer proper support to the line of forces (taking into account side wind forces and adequate seismic allowances).
Thus, whether or not there's a basement or underground car park, the engineering should have been adequate (with ample safety margins) for all those parameters to have been met.
Clearly in this case, the evident "cans" in the construction only serve to suggest other shortfalls in the design and construction process.
There should be (and probably will be) a thorough investigation of all these aspects. It is a nonsense these days to consider static modeling for designs of structures in a seismic environment. Modern technology is very advanced even on basic seismic solutions.
This example of a catastrophic failure shows negligence somewhere along the process. Admittedly, nothing is 100% failsafe, but the evidence here is of malpractice to at least the degree of the cans, what more will they find in an investigation?
It would be tragic if the investigation becomes a cover-up and developers are allowed to repeat such a crime.
For the sake of the dead and injured, fingers crossed for a proper and constructive report from the inspectorate. Bottom line, it will demonstrate and expose who really cares.