It is ambitious, to say the least: proposing seismic safety regulations requiring owners to retrofit thousands of buildings most at risk of collapse during a major earthquake.
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti’s recommendations target two of the riskiest types of buildings in Los Angeles built before 1980: concrete buildings and wooden structures built atop weak first floors, such as those on top of carports and garages and supported by slender columns.
Seismic officials have warned of hundreds of deaths across Southern California if nothing is done to strengthen these buildings before a large earthquake hits again.
The plan calls for thousands of wood buildings to be retrofitted within five years, and hundreds of concrete buildings to be strengthened within 30.
It is a message the insurance industry has been shouting from the rooftops to municipal governments and building owners living in earthquake-prone areas – like British Columbia’s west coast and the Ottawa-St. Lawrence valley.
“Preparing for an earthquake means acting now,” said Canada’s Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Steven Blaney, at a recent earthquake symposium in B.C. “We need to build resilient communities that can better withstand and recover from the impacts of natural disasters and other emergencies.”
No other city in California has gone as far as proposing mandatory retrofits for concrete buildings, which can cost from the tens of thousands of dollars to perhaps more than $1 million for large office and residential buildings. The cost of retrofitting a modest wooden apartment building ranges from $60,000 to $130,000.
While the cost is high, the cost of doing nothing could hobble Los Angeles’ economy for many years, said Garcetti.
“The time for retrofit is now,” the mayor told the L.A. Times, adding that the retrofits target buildings “that are known killers.
“Complacency risks lives,” added Garcetti. “One thing we can’t afford to do is wait.” (continued.)
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The most conservative estimate has as many as 50 of the more than 1,000 old concrete buildings in the city collapsing in a major earthquake, exposing thousands to injury or death.
Public awareness on the potential damage from a large magnitude quake is increased, says one Vancouver broker, who has seen an uptick in clients asking about earthquake cover – despite the sticker shock.
“Everybody wants it; nobody wants to pay for it – but they end up paying for it anyway,” said Lynn Zimmerman, a personal lines sales representative with Irwin & Billings Insurance Brokers in Vancouver, B.C. “I’d say about 90 per cent of our clients have earthquake coverage. And that is with the deductible going from 5 to 10 per cent, and the premium going up too.”
Although the buy-in on coverage is high for those living along the Pacific coast, there is still a great deal of indifference among those living in the interior of Canada.
“In the (B.C.) interior, nobody has it,” Zimmerman told Insurance Business. “The first thing one client did moving from Vancouver to Kelowna was remove their earthquake coverage.”
