Page 8 - Yucaipa Valley Water District

THE CASE FOR EARTHQUAKE RESILIENCY
Why Safer Structures Protect and Promote Social and Economic Vitality

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By Ali Sahabi, GEC ; Evan Reis, S.E. ; David Khorram , P.E., CBO
California is the Golden State of the nation. With a $2.4 trillion gross domestic product, a population of
nearly 40 million and a rich diversity of lucrative industries, it boasts the sixth largest economy on the
planet and fuels much of the economic vitality of the nation, if not the world.

The state is an economic engine, a powerhouse for prosperity. But it is far from invincible.

California is also a region famous for its earthquakes: It’s a global hotbed of seismic activity with the
capacity to experience widespread economic and social devastation at any moment. The best way to
guard against that threat is to prepare for it – making our cities safer by identifying and retrofitting our
vulnerable structures.

Growing awareness of the threat of the “Big One” has sparked a statewide movement called the Seismic
Resilience Initiative (SRI), a coalition of people in California who are concerned about the health and
security of the state. A working group of stakeholders, led by the United States Resiliency Council,
includes BizFed, California Building Officials, the Structural Engineers Association of California and
others, and is receiving key technical assistance from the California Seismic Safety Commission,
California Office of Emergency Services, the California Department of Insurance, and International Code
Council.

Additionally, California Assemblyman Adrin Nazarian on Feb. 15, 2018 introduced legislation related to
this initiative to identify buildings at risk of failure in a major quake and to provide funding assistance to
help cover the costs to local governments. AB 2681 will require cities in seismically volatile regions to
identify and evaluate classes of buildings that have been proven to be vulnerable in a major earthquake.
This generally includes mid-1990s or older wood-framed, soft-story structures; unreinforced masonry;
tilt-up; nonductile concrete; and steel moment frame buildings. Identifying these structures is the first
step to assessing our state’s vulnerabilities to earthquakes. Many owners or occupants may not know
the risks associated with these buildings, which represent a large portion of California’s affordable
housing stock and hundreds, if not tens of thousands of businesses that help fuel local economies. To
lose these structures would bring about serious economic and social turmoil.

This initiative is the first step in bringing about a more resilient California. It will save lives, guard against
injury and protect the social and economic fabric of our state and nation. The following pages explain
why such an action is needed, and why it makes good business and economic sense for building owners
and society-at-large.

Albert Einstein famously stated, “Given one hour to save the world, I would spend 55 minutes defining
the problem and five minutes on finding the solution.” California needs to identify and define its
weaknesses to earthquakes to move forward toward a plan for resiliency now, and long into the future.

1 Board Member, Los Angeles County Business Federation
2 Executive Director, U.S. Resiliency Council
3 President, California Building Officials
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Yucaipa Valley Water District - March 8, 2018 - Page 8 of 40