(From the latimes.com) The level of devastation from this week’s earthquake in New Zealand has some California scientists saying that the state’s seismic building codes should be reevaluated to address the striking structural failures seen in Christchurch.
In New Zealand, the quake destroyed many buildings of the types that California officials have long said are most vulnerable in a major temblor: Older unreinforced brick buildings and concrete-framed office buildings erected in the 1960s and ’70s. There are thousands of such buildings in the state, and many have not been retrofitted to make them less vulnerable to shaking.
Experts said the New Zealand quake highlights a need to refocus on fixing these buildings, an effort that has met with mixed success and now faces longer odds because of the bad economy. California has struggled to have hospital and college buildings retrofitted, much less private offices and residences.
Read more here: New Zealand quake raises questions about L.A. buildings