Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 25) — The country is "not yet mature" in earthquake engineering so that structures are more resistant to tremors, an expert said Thursday.

Ted Esguerra, founder of the Disaster and Crisis Lead and Wilderness Search & Rescue Philippines, said local developers lean more toward "aesthetics," setting aside structural requirements that can save lives in times of disasters like an earthquake.

''Yung part ng culture natin kasi is (It's part of our culture that) we are not yet so matured in coming up with earthquake engineering unlike what I see in Japan," Esguerra said in an interview on CNN Philippines' On The Record.

"We fancy ourselves with aesthetics, so our building are rigged with glass panels na basta maganda lang (that are just good to the eyes)," he added.

Esguerra lamented the lack of sensors in buildings that help in proper evacuation.

"We are not into sensing.. the sensors, our buildings have no sensors, so we don't know when to evacuate," he said.

Sensors are electrical devices that detect ground movements and serve as an alarm to help in early evacuation.

"Because most of the buildings are not equipped with such, we just evacuate tantya tantya lang [by estimation], and when we evacuate na tantya tantya lang, we cannot assess the building," he said.

A magnitude 6.1 tremor jolted Luzon Monday afternoon, killing at least 16. Barely a day after, a 6.5-magnitude quake hit the Visayas Tuesday, followed by 4.5-magnitude and 4.7-magnitude tremors in Davao Wednesday.