An Earthquake Could Topple Hundreds of Buildings, and L.A. Leaders Are Doing Nothing
By Gracie Zheng
Thu, Mar 6, 2014
In ex-City Councilman Hal Bernson's day, Los Angeles was a leader in preparing for the Big One, the 7 magnitude or greater earthquake that geologists say is inevitable and overdue - and will be unleashed upon Los Angeles by the San Andreas, Hollywood, Puente Hills, Santa Monica or Newport-Inglewood fault.
Between 1981 and 1992, Bernson saw to it, against great opposition, that almost all of the city's 8,080 brick buildings constructed before 1933 were strengthened so that millions of bricks wouldn't turn into lethal projectiles when the big temblor finally comes. He fought apartment landlords, the Central City Association and other political forces, convincing the City Council to mandate the retrofits.
"We overruled the opposition - we managed to get 10 votes on the City Council. It wasn't easy," Bernson recalls. But 11 years after Bernson's 2003 departure from City Hall, L.A.'s building and safety program to prevent widespread death and injury from a major quake is in tatters.<SNIP>
Read the rest of this lengthy, but well written article at the link below:
Read the rest of this lengthy, but well written article at the link below:
http://www.laweekly.com/informer/2014/03/06/an-earthquake-could-topple-hundreds-of-buildings-and-la-leaders-are-doing-nothing via @laweekly
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