🚀 go-pugleaf

We went through this about a year ago.  Stay on the high ground (rock),
and check the response of the last big earthquake.  The best places just
had the toilets blow out (always flush :)
Harold.
--

M. Garrett/H. Payne wrote in message ...
>I'm planning a move to the San Francisco Bay Area this year and would like
>my apartment search to be earthquake-informed. I am considering both SF
>and east bay as possible places to move, although I understand that
>because much of the city is built on landfill it is less safe in the event
>of an earthquake. I would appreciate any information on looking for
>earthquake-safe (as much as there can be) places to live in the SF/Bay
>Area (e.g., what to look for, what to avoid). If you know of any relevant
>web sites, that would also be appreciated.
>

New construction is better than old.  In the Loma Prieta Quake of 1989,
where I lived in Hollister, it appeared that no building built after 1940
was destroyed and that none built after about 1960 was seriously damaged.
The building codes usually improve with every big shaker.  Good woodframe
construction is usually very resistant to all but the nastiest shaking
(right on top of the fault).  First story garages with rooms or apartments
built over the top can be unstable when subjected to strong shearing
motions.  Masonry, especially old masonry, can be very brittle and it's very
heavy when it falls on you.  Try not to be on landfill or right over a
fault.

>please reply directly by e-mail.
>
>thanks
>blanket@world.std.com
>


--
Mark Folsom, P.E.
Consulting Mechanical Engineer
http://www.redshift.com/~folsom

On Thu, 23 Apr 1998 14:58:05 GMT, "M. Garrett/H. Payne"
<blanket@world.std.com> wrote:

>I'm planning a move to the San Francisco Bay Area this year and would like
>my apartment search to be earthquake-informed. I am considering both SF
>and east bay as possible places to move, although I understand that 
>because much of the city is built on landfill it is less safe in the event
>of an earthquake. I would appreciate any information on looking for
>earthquake-safe (as much as there can be) places to live in the SF/Bay
>Area (e.g., what to look for, what to avoid). If you know of any relevant
>web sites, that would also be appreciated.
>
>please reply directly by e-mail.
>
>thanks
>blanket@world.std.com

Take a look at http://quake.usgs.gov/hazprep/index.html for a bay area
hazard evaluation.
---
Want to simplify Windows 95? Try mgSimplify, a macro program 
that simplifies repetitive computer tasks.

Rated 4 Stars by ZDNET!
Available at www.greenes.com.

M. Garrett/H. Payne wrote in message ...
>I'm planning a move to the San Francisco Bay Area this year and would like
>my apartment search to be earthquake-informed. <snip>

Most apartments built after the '71 Sylmar quake in the L.A. area have been
fully plywood sheathed to minimize the shear forces of a quake and outright
collapse of the structure.

My "earthquake-informed" selections are based on the following.

     1. Not supported by poles or over support gaps....i.e., units above a
garage, whether in frame or concrete such as underground garages.

     2. Not high-rise....above a couple of stories (personal choice),
probably most of the new ones are better than some or most of the frame
units (due to fire.) The old and older are non no's, especially masonry or
the like.

     3. A unit that is NOT on the end of the building. The units on the end
of a building are subject to more damage due to the ending of the wave
undulation. It has no place to go. If of course the shock wave is broad-on
ce la vie.......a matter of probability.

     4. Investigate egress from the local area in the case of evacuation,
especially from fire.

Having been through both the Loma Prieta ('89 - SF Bay Area) and the
Northridge ('94 - LA), I wish you luck. There are no sure things but it does
help to prepare.

                                                eladydee