Now building codes.
A building is built to withstand some shaking - not some magnitude. Any building can withstand a M8 if it is far enough away.
The code says that a building should not collapse in the worst shaking that has a 10% chance of happening in 50 years. 1/4
A building is built to withstand some shaking - not some magnitude. Any building can withstand a M8 if it is far enough away.
The code says that a building should not collapse in the worst shaking that has a 10% chance of happening in 50 years. 1/4
There is not one standard for all of California. At every location, @USGS calculates what is the expected shaking from known faults and a new building is built for that. A building in San Bernardino has to be stronger than a building in Orange County. 2/4 
The building code doesn't try to prevent damage. It just says the building shouldn't kill people. Building "to code" means the weakest building that will not collapse in the pretty bad quake. It gives us disposable buildings. 3/4
The building code in Alaska has to be strong enough to not collapse in the M9. The #anchoragequake M7 left most buildings perfectly ok. If we were willing to build stronger than the code minimum, we could have more buildings we could reuse after the quake. 4/4
