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LA Mayor Proposes Earthquake Retrofits On Thousands of Buildings
HughPickens.com writes The LA Times reports that Ls Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti has proposed the most ambitious seismic safety regulations in California history that would require owners to retrofit thousands of buildings most at risk of collapse during a major earthquake. "The time for retrofit is now," says Garcetti, adding that the retrofits target buildings "that are known killers. Complacency risks lives. One thing we can't afford to do is wait." The mayor's plan calls for thousands of wood buildings to be retrofitted within five years, and hundreds of concrete buildings to be strengthened within 30. The retrofitting requirements must be approved by the City Council, and would have to be paid for by the building owners, with the costs presumably passed on to tenants and renters. The costs could be significant: $5,000 per unit in vulnerable wooden buildings and $15 per square foot for office buildings, Business owners, who have expressed concern in the past that these kinds of programs may be unaffordable, said the cost of retrofitting some buildings could easily exceed $1 million each. "This will cost us billions of dollars in the private and public sector," says Garcetti. "But we cannot afford not to do it."
The last major earthquake in Los Angeles was the 6.7-magnitude Northridge quake, which killed close to 60 people in 1994. But it was not close to the catastrophe that seismologists predict if there is a major shift on the San Andreas fault, and the fact that it has not produced a major quake in recent years has fed a sense of complacency. Seismologists now say a 7.5-magnitude event on the Puente Hills would be "the quake from hell" because it runs right under downtown Los Angeles and have estimated that would kill up to 18,000 people, make several million homeless, and cause up to $250 billion in damage. "We want to keep the city up and running after the earthquake happens," says Lucy Jones aka "The Earthquake Lady," a seismologist with the United States Geological Survey and something of a celebrity in a city that is very aware of the potential danger of its location. "If everything in this report is enacted, I believe that L.A. will not just survive the next earthquake, but will be able to recover quickly."
The last major earthquake in Los Angeles was the 6.7-magnitude Northridge quake, which killed close to 60 people in 1994. But it was not close to the catastrophe that seismologists predict if there is a major shift on the San Andreas fault, and the fact that it has not produced a major quake in recent years has fed a sense of complacency. Seismologists now say a 7.5-magnitude event on the Puente Hills would be "the quake from hell" because it runs right under downtown Los Angeles and have estimated that would kill up to 18,000 people, make several million homeless, and cause up to $250 billion in damage. "We want to keep the city up and running after the earthquake happens," says Lucy Jones aka "The Earthquake Lady," a seismologist with the United States Geological Survey and something of a celebrity in a city that is very aware of the potential danger of its location. "If everything in this report is enacted, I believe that L.A. will not just survive the next earthquake, but will be able to recover quickly."
From the LA times about earthquake insurance ...
Rethinking Your Stance on Earthquake Coverage
Californians have a well-deserved reputation for being in denial. We build our homes on flood plains, on brushy mountainsides, in the path of mudslides and on or near earthquake faults. Most of the time, most of us avoid catastrophe. But we should acknowledge that someday our luck could run out--and consider whether it's worth taking precautions to protect against the unthinkable.
http://www.latimes.com/la-home...
...to deal with all of the suddenly abandoned properties whose owners decide the cost of retrofitting the building costs more than the building is worth and just walk away from them?
You had me until you said "Office Building"
Forcing residential homeowners to make these retrofits is one thing... it's wrong. The homeowner should be able to make the choice of if they want to risk it. The city could instead, inform future buyers with ratings... "Safe to magnitude 3" or whatever. Then require inspections prior to sale, so the new owners would know. Telling some familly that might be barely making their mortgage payments as is, that they have to sink $10k into their house within 5yrs is just elitist and going to drive lower income families out of the city.
But public spaces like an office building? The city has jurisdiction there. The public has some expectation of safety when they walk into a public space. When I go to that new mall downtown, I can't be expected to know that it's actually a retrofitted 1920's flophouse held together with bubblegum. A 5yr plan is still ridiculously short however. It's clear this guys getting some sort of kickback from the construction industry.
San Francisco already did this. Almost all the masonry buildings in SF have been reinforced since the 1989 quake, and now the rules are being tighened on wood buldings. If you've been in an older building in SF, you've probably seen huge diagonal steel braces. That's what it looks like.
All new big buildings meet very tough earthquake standards. The bridges and freeways have been beefed up in recent years. Overpass pillars are about three times as big as they used to be. Two elevated freeways were torn down after one in Oakland failed in the 1989 quake. The entire eastern span of the Bay Bridge was replaced with a new suspension bridge. The western span was strengthened, and there are now sliding joints, huge plates of stainless steel, between the roadway and the towers.
Did live there, got the hell out.
Air you can't breathe, Killer Cops on the loose, Thugs on every corner, Real estate ripoff artists running the city
Health and safety is a JOKE
Hot most of the time, smoggy most of the time,
World's WORST drivers, rush hour from 3:00 - 8:00 on the 405
Airplanes landing straight down Century Blvd (think that won't drive you nuts?)
Corrupt city hall, far more corrupt businesses
Easy credit ripoffs
Hell, it's damn near as bad as Houston, which REALLY sucks!
Your insight is lost on the average Slashdotter, who thinks that anyone who owns a building is a rich fat cat. I'm certain that many buildings in LA are owned by smaller investors whose net worth is largely contained within the properties they own.
Gamingmuseum.com: Give your 3D accelerator a rest.