Is it tough enough
Earthquakes and Highrise Buildings
I watched a special on television concerning Highrise buildings in San Francisco. 4 out of 5 buildings are not built to withstand a magnitude 8.0 quake and are seriously in danger of collapsing and pancaking. I live in a 1931 nine story “flapjack” building…(my own word)
This building received some pretty bad damage in the 89 quake and I don’t expect it to hold up to well in the next quake. The building is slightly tilted in a SW to NE direction. We live in a bottom floor apartment witch is slightly crushed down, especially under our apartment. We’ve had major damage due to settling with pipes that have ruptured due to the building shift.
The other building I manage is even worse. It’s broken in half and is still settling. I constantly have problems with main soil stacks cracking and separating, many plumbing and structural issues.
I’m sure there are just hundreds of buildings in the city that are even in worse shape. Some of the red brick and mortar buildings in Chinatown are really in a precarious situation. I couldn’t imagine a magnitude of 7.0 or more and we are way, way overdue for a big one. It’s been way to quiet.
So what to do? Just take a chance and hang tight. Should I just hope I’m out of the building when it hits? Chances are better that I’ll be right here blogging away! when the big one hits! Do I start looking for another job in a safer building? I don’t think this would be the time to launch into a new endeavor, so I guess I just take a chance and stay put.
Just some thoughts…
Will it last?
