Infrastructure protectionSanta Monica to identify, require retrofitting for, quake-vulnerable buildings
Twenty years ago the city of Santa Monica, California passed laws requiring retrofitting of concrete, steel, and wood apartment buildings which were likely to collapse during an earthquake. The city stopped enforcing the laws a few years after it was passed. Beginning this year, Santa Monica will inspect, and require seismic retrofitting for, concrete, steel, and wood-frame buildings deemed vulnerable during a major earthquake.
Santa Monica seeks to prevent more of these // Source: usgs.gov
Twenty years ago the city of Santa Monica, California passed laws requiring retrofitting of concrete, steel, and wood apartment buildings which were likely to collapse during an earthquake. The city stopped enforcing the laws a few years after it was passed.
Beginning this year, Santa Monica will inspect, and require seismic retrofitting for, concrete, steel, and wood-frame buildings deemed vulnerable during a major earthquake. It will cost the city more than $100,000 over the next year to identify the buildings, and property owners must prove that the buildings are safe, or fix them. City officials will soon determine the amount of time property owners have to retrofit the identified buildings. The city will review hundreds of buildings, including older concrete buildings, steel office towers, and wood multistory apartment houses. Concrete buildings pose the greatest risk of loss of life in an earthquake, and Santa Monica has at least seventy concrete buildings.
Accordingto the Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles officials are considering a similar inspection of concrete and wooden apartment buildings. Last month, researchers at the University of California released a listof approximately 1,500 older, earthquake-vulnerable concrete buildings in Los Angeles, but the list did not identify which structures needed retrofits. Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti has partnered with the U.S. Geological Survey(USGS) to determine how Los Angeles can retrofit vulnerable concrete and wooden apartment buildings.
Property owners in Santa Monica are concerned about the costs of retrofitting buildings. Bill Dawson, a board member of the Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles, said that the high costs of retrofitting may be difficult for small-scale property owners. Dawson proposes that the city offers property owners low or no-interest loans and an exemption from the city’s rent control law, which will then allow property owners to pass retrofits costs to tenants. “That will help encourage compliance and therefore safety of the residents,” Dawson said.
Advocates for seismic safety applaud the move by Santa Monica. “I think it’s fantastic,” said Thalia Anagnos, who compiled the list of buildings published with the University of California study. “It’s a great first step,” added David Cocke, a structural engineer who runs a firm in Gardena. “You gotta do something, and the best place to start is to identify where the potential vulnerable buildings are.”
