In the morning of January 10, 2025, San Francisco Bay Area residents were reminded of California’s precarious geological reality. A preliminary magnitude 3.7 earthquake struck near the San Francisco Zoo, shaking the city awake. While light and weak shaking rippled across the region, no injuries or significant damage were reported. […]
In 2019, California saw a dramatic rise in homelessness, with over 21,300 additional people living without shelter—a 16.4% increase, surpassing the combined total of all other states, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. By January 2020, this number had climbed another 7%, bringing the total homeless […]
How would a major earthquake impact California’s growing homeless population?
In 2019, the number of people in the state without homes grew by more than 21,300 people, or 16.4% — more than all other states in the nation combined — the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development reported. It rose […]
Should new construction be allowed on top of active earthquake faults? And, what about the thousands of structures already perched upon these fearsome fissures?
These questions have played out in Hollywood and other parts of the Southland in recent years, where a worrisome weave of active faults snakes its way through […]
What are the odds a major earthquake will damage your San Diego apartment building, other commercial structure or even your home?
The Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Hazus modeling shows 120,000 buildings could suffer moderate to complete damage – with 8,000 beyond repair – and another 36,000 households could be displaced.
How does […]
Where can potentially unsafe, soft-story apartment building be found in San Diego? And how many such buildings are there?
Those questions and similar ones about other counties in California led Optimum Seismic, Inc. and the U.S. Resiliency Council to team up with Esri, a leading mapping company, to combine resources to […]
How would a major earthquake impact California’s growing homeless population?
In 2019, the number of people in the state without homes grew by more than 21,300 people, or 16.4% — more than all other states in the nation combined — the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development reported. It rose […]
Luigi De Sarno was part of a team of advisors brought in to help the government of Haiti following the 7.0 magnitude earthquake in 2010 that killed more than 200,000 people.
He and other representatives of the World Bank met several times with the Ministries of Health and Public Works, recommending […]
The Santa Ana Mountains are a regional treasure, providing a spectacular backdrop to Orange County.
The range begins at the Whittier Fault and stretches south to the Santa Margarita River. Major summits are scattered along the ridge, the mightiest being Modjeska (5,496 feet) and Santiago (5,689 feet) – which form our […]
UC San Diego, home to one of the world’s foremost research centers for earthquake safety, also has several buildings on and off campus—including student housing, theaters, gymnasiums, laboratories, and cafes – that are at serious or severe risk to life, according to a seismic safety survey done of several University […]
