The cruelest
Earthquakes pick their own seasons to destroy lives and homes
By Joanna Beresford 04/16/2009
“April is the cruelest month, breeding lilacs out of the dead land, mixing memory and desire, stirring dull roots with spring rain.” — T.S. Eliot
Weinstein Earthquake Retrofitting (laquakeproofer.com) describes a safe house as “one that can with-stand a sideways pull and is a house built on firm foundations.” They’ve been retrofitting homes for more than three decades; they’ve bolstered more than 5,000 residences since the Northridge earthquake in 1994. The retrofitting process, in accordance with the LA Department of Building and Safety and FEMA, is one that “ties a home together.”
So, where were the Weinsteins when my marriage was falling apart?
Ha-ha, just kidding. As much as seismic lingo begs for metaphoric interpretation, the parts of your home that you can adequately secure during an earthquake are strictly the physical bricks, boards, mortar (and maybe a few bookcases and wine glasses.). If you want to improve the relationship between the walls and the foundation of your home, you use a T-strap tie and a foundation anchor. To secure relationships among family members, some counseling may be required.
Most Californians want to know if and when “the Big One” is coming. My editor, Kevin Uhrich’s reply: “It’s never earthquake season, until it happens.”
Mr. Uhrich is absolutely adorable, and no one can tell a story or tighten a paragraph better than he can — but he’s not exactly a seismic expert. For genuine scientific perspectives I must call on the Queen of Quakes at Caltech, seismologist Kate Hutton.
Ms. Hutton says that we experience earthquakes nearly every day, but we don’t realize it because many quakes are too small to detect without machinery. According to Hutton, an earthquake has to register at somewhere between a magnitude 2.5 and 3 on the Richter scale in order to be “felt.”
But the next Big One, she allows, is imminent.
What does “imminent” mean?
“Well, I tend to think on a geological time scale,” she explains. “So, that doesn’t necessarily mean next week or next year. The time scale, for engineers … would be somewhere around 30 years.”
Hutton says that the chances of a magnitude 6.7 quake happening in the next 30 years are about 97 percent.
There are so many ways to respond to that prediction it sets my head spinning. But, for the purposes of this column, Hutton’s news made me think about consequences for homeowners. Or home-dwellers — you don’t have to own your home to want to save the china. I asked the Queen if her house is adequately prepared for a significant shaker?
“I hope so. The first thing I did was to have the house bolted to the foundation,” she replied. “My bookcases are bolted to the wall. My cabinets are latched.”
She suggests that anyone who lives in an earthquake region should pick up a copy of “Putting Down Roots in Earthquake Country,” a publication of the Earthquake Country Alliance. You can read, download or request a free handbook at www.earthquakecountry.info.
Generally, a seismically retrofitted home is about 10 times more resistant to earthquake damage than its non-retrofitted counterpart, according to the Association of Bay Area Governments. Obviously, older buildings are more vulnerable to earthquake damage — unless they’ve been properly retrofitted.
Pasadena City Hall, for example, was closed for about three years while improvements, including a thorough seismic retrofit, were made to the 1927 structure. Costs vary for this kind of work, but invariably, if the improvements are professionally and successfully completed, the money spent on labor, etc. is a worthwhile investment in your property.
Some experts estimate that seismic improvements will run between 1 and 3 percent of your home’s value. That’s a little too formulaic, I suspect. Newer homes have usually been built smarter, to more recent seismic codes, and will require less adjustment. Older homes — especially those built before the Seismic Safety Act was passed in 1975 — may demand significantly more renovation. If you’re trying to sell your home, state law requires you to disclose to the buyer any earthquake-related weaknesses. If you stay in your home, or buy or rent a new one, you will want to ensure that your possessions, your children (and you) are all protected against the risks of earthquake damage.
April is Earthquake Preparedness Month, in memory of the great San Francisco quake of 1906. It seems appropriate. Certainly residents of central Italy — and anyone who loves the life and the rich, ancient architecture of the region — are still reeling from that country’s most recent experience of “the cruelest month.”
Contact Joanna at truewrite@yahoo.com.
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