Oso Mudslide 3rd Anniversary

Yesterday was a sad and reflective day for many people impacted by the Oso mudslide that hit a small community of homes here in the Pacific Northwest, three years ago. See this Seattle Times article, Oso, 3 years on: Families and others wrestle with lessons learned from deadly landslide.

Yes, it was a natural disaster and yes, it was a worst-case event, but in the aftermath, the questions are asked of authorities, "What did you know, when did you know it, what did you do about it?"

The answers to those questions brought about a $50M payment to survivors and relatives of those who lost their lives and property. 

Today in the Northwest there is a very high danger of landslides due to greater than normal rains raising the prospect of landslides occurring as I write this blog post. I've been telling people, if we got even a modest earthquake right now, there could be hundreds of landslides, most shallow, but many deep slides that can impact people and property. 

I'd like to switch gears and look at the risks of unreinforced masonry buildings (URM). They are a known hazard for specific buildings, just like the Oso landslide was for the area where it occurred. Owners of those properties and the cities and counties that have building code enforcement powers will have to answer to the survivors and their relatives when in the future one or more of those buildings collapse. I don't think any of these positions will protect you from liability:

• Retrofitting the building would have cost too much
• Rents would have increased, taking away an inventory of lower-cost housing
• We don't want historically significant buildings demolished because they cost to0 much to retrofit.

I look forward to owners and governments presenting these arguments in a court — post-earthquake. 

If you are the judge or jury, how would you rule?