WATCH: Are taller buildings safer during earthquakes?

Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 24) — Social media was flooded with videos of swaying buildings following the magnitude 6.1 quake that shook parts of Luzon, including Metro Manila on Monday.

This has prompted many to ask where they would be safer during a quake: In high-rise buildings like many condominiums in the metro or in low and mid-rise structures?

University of the Philippines Nationwide Operational Assessment of Hazards director Mahar Lagmay told CNN Philippines’ The Source on Monday that it depends on how near or far the quake’s epicenter is to the building.

Lagmay showed that taller buildings, or structures that are 15 storeys and higher, would sway more if the epicenter of an earthquake is farther, but if it is nearer, low or medium-rise buildings would be swaying instead.

Regardless, both buildings are safe — as long as they follow the National Building Code, structural engineer Ronaldo Ison told The Source.

Ison added that there is nothing to worry about swaying buildings during and after an earthquake as they are designed to do that.

Watch Lagmay’s demonstration and his and Ison’s explanations of the effects of a quake on buildings above.