Ongoing SF campaign promotes enhanced building safety to prepare city for next big earthquake
Briefly

Ongoing SF campaign promotes enhanced building safety to prepare city for next big earthquake
"SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- As we approach the 36th anniversary of the devastating 6.9-magnitude Loma Prieta earthquake, you may be wondering, how safe is San Francisco? The city has an ongoing campaign to enhance safety if we're ever to face another big quake again. Come December, owners of thousands of presumed concrete buildings in San Francisco will be asked to take part in a screening program. In the meantime, soft-story building owners have been overwhelmingly compliant in making sure their structures are safe."
"Around 2013, Mathews says San Francisco instituted a mandatory retrofit program for wood framed soft-story buildings that were three or more stories with five or more units. A soft story building is a building where, on the ground floor, there's more open space than there is above the ground floor. In San Francisco, Mathews says that usually means on the ground floor, there's a parking garage or business. And above the ground floor, there's apartments. These types of buildings were in danger of damage or collapse."
The 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake heightened awareness of seismic risk in San Francisco. Around 2013 the city instituted a mandatory retrofit program for wood-framed soft-story buildings three or more stories tall with five or more units. Soft-story buildings have more open ground-floor space, frequently used for parking or businesses, with apartments above, making them vulnerable to collapse. The retrofit program has upgraded about 40,000 housing units and is at roughly 95% compliance, with the remaining owners engaged with the Department of Building Inspection. Beginning in December, the city will screen thousands of presumed concrete buildings built before about 2000 for seismic vulnerability.
Read at ABC7 San Francisco
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