For California, another large earthquake is inevitable. In 1906, a magnitude 7.9 earthquake struck San Francisco and destroyed 28,000 structures, over 80% of the city’s buildings at the time. The magnitude 6.9 Loma Prieta earthquake in 1989 is estimated to have caused anywhere from $6-10 billion in property damages around the Bay Area. But these days there’s technology to help buildings resist earthquakes. One the most robust ways for a building to resist earthquake damage is base isolation. As a follow-up to the detailed New York Times article about base isolation, we take a deep dive into base isolation in San Francisco.
Continue reading “Are Buildings in SF on Rollers? Base Isolation in San Francisco”