San Diego At Greater Risk for Earthquakes Than Before
A fault line in San Diego that was thought to be inactive … is now believed to pose a much more serious threat to the city.
The Rose Canyon fault runs through the heart of San Diego, and is capable of producing a whopping 6.9 magnitude earthquake which would cause mass destruction to landmarks all over the city, in addition to causing liquefaction and landslides throughout the region.
It’s estimated that a quake of that size would cause upwards of $38 billion in economic losses, damaging 120,000 of San Diego’s buildings and cause roughly $5.2 billion in lost revenue for businesses throughout the region.
The scariest part, is most San Diego residents either don’t know about the Rose Canyon fault or still believe it’s inactive.
“This type of mentality needs to change,” said California Seismic Safety Commissioner Jorge Meneses. “We have a seismic source here, running through downtown.”
In addition to the lack of knowledge surrounding the active fault line in the city, many of the structures in San Diego have been constructed with lower earthquake building codes since it was once believed that San Diego was at a lower risk for earthquakes compared to Los Angeles and San Francisco.
“Many older, more seismically vulnerable buildings constructed before modern seismic design provisions were in place, including several key City of San Diego facilities, may be severely damaged with multiple older buildings potentially suffering partial to total collapse,” the report said (via the L.A. Times).
Other landmarks like San Diego’s naval base and other military facilities would experience severe shaking during a quake of that size, with liquefaction happening all around.
San Diego’s airport is also built right on top of the fault, which means during a larger earthquake the runways could act like quicksand and collapse, thus shutting down air travel in and around the city.
If you live in California and own an older property, earthquake retrofitting is a necessary safeguard for protecting those who reside there and for maintaining the value of your property.
At Julian Construction, we’ll help you find the best solution for your seismic repairs. No matter what your foundation situation is, we’ll conduct a (free) inclusive home inspection, followed by a detailed consultation, and at the end of our discussion we’ll provide you with a quote for repair.
Julian De La Torre is an expert in Los Angeles foundation inspection, foundation contractors, earthquake retrofitting, foundation repair and foundation replacement. Julian’s company, Julian Construction, has inspected over 30,000 structures, working with engineering firms and local departments of building & safety. The company has done more foundation repair and earthquake retrofitting in Los Angeles than any other company in the area over the last five years.
