We could already be living in earthquake-resistant cities
Apr 25, 2018, 6:49 AM | Updated: 8:03 am
Dr. Lucy Jones in 2016 explaining how an early warning system would provide advance warning of an earthquake. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon,File)
(AP Photo/Reed Saxon,File)
On the West Coast, we’re all supposed to prepare for “The Big One,” a massive earthquake we’re told will come.
Expert: We can’t predict or warn you about the ‘Big One’
Dr. Lucy Jones is the seismologist who organized the Great American Shakeout to get us all to think seriously about what to do when the shaking starts. But she worries that too many people are focused simply on survival – and survival is not enough.
“Even in Pompeii, 90 percent of the victims got out alive. You are going to probably live through this. What may not survive is your community. Pompeii disappeared from human knowledge for 1,500 years.”
It’s not enough for buildings to remain standing. Buildings should also remain intact – with working water, sewer, and electrical systems. Otherwise, all you have is millions of survivors camping out in condemned high-rises. Which is why California has decided to do something.
“There is a bill up in front of the Legislature to develop what we’re calling a functional recovery standard. Instead of just crawl out alive, make a building you can reuse. The engineers know how to do it.”
And the cost? About a 1 percent increase in construction costs, Dr. Jones says.
One percent to build cities that not only survive a disaster but will be up and running again. Cities that could shake, rattle, and just roll on.
-
Tune in to KIRO Newsradio weekdays at 5am for Dave Ross on Seattle's Morning News.
