A powerful temblor could either collapse these old buildings or shift them so dramatically that they’re uninhabitable, one expert says. He also estimates that half a million people likely call these structures home.
They’re common across Los Angeles — older, low-slung apartment buildings that have a parking lot tucked underneath.In one of the region’s most destructive temblors in recent history — the deadly 6.7 magnitude quake that struck the San Fernando Valley area in 1994 —He is using the the pair of earthquakes thatto remind officials and policymakers to address the massive number of “soft-story” buildings across the region, of which he says there are tens of thousands in Los Angeles county.
Such buildings were a popular way in California’s booming post-war period to creatively combine housing and parking, he said. But this design — forged in an era before many leaders and engineers gave much thought to earthquake-conscious construction — also makes them vulnerable to the region’s persistent seismic activity.
Another important difference between old and new construction is the addition of a beam between columns. This creates a frame that helps accommodate a quake’s seismic energy, he said. Some Southern California cities have begun adopting ordinances that require owners to retrofit their soft-story structures. In 2016, the city of Los Angeles began enforcing an ordinance that gave owners seven years to retrofit their properties.
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