San Francisco lives with the certainty that the Big One will come. But the city is also putting up taller and taller buildings clustered closer and closer together because of the state’s severe housing shortage. Now those competing pressures have prompted an anxious rethinking of building regulations. Experts are sending this message: The building code does not protect cities from earthquakes nearly as much as you might think. — New York Times
Taking a hard look at San Francisco's building codes, this NY Times piece goes in depth on what it means for city high rises if the next big earthquake hit. From the 1906 earthquake and fire to current seismic safety, concerns revolve around the number of skyscrapers built on liquefaction zones and buildings left damaged beyond repair.
With cases such as the sinking Millennium Tower and many more high rises planned for the city, San Francisco's seismic risk and building codes are currently being reassessed. The Tall Building Study is the first detailed database of more than 160 high rises, classifying structures by building type.
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