With the Napa Valley earthquake barely in our rear view mirrors, there is bound to be some reaction to the event that causes changes in laws or programs either in California or elsewhere.
Check out Claire's Earthquake Planning in California chart. Two events that have stood out for years for me are the 1930s quake that brought the construction of unreinforced masonry buildings to a halt, and then the early 1970s that changed the building code and how bridges are built. Before that time there were no seismic restraints on bridges. They just sat there with their dead weight holding them in place. Most of I-5 here on the West Coast was built before those new seismic standards were in place. Therefore, a great deal of seismic retrofitting has been required over the years. Many critical bridges have had work done, but not all of them!
Perhaps a bit of progress will come from this latest event. As I mentioned in a blog post from yesterday, there are opportunities! Or will this event just be one of those lessons observed with no lessons learned?
