Fair Warnings

The Mexico City earthquake dramatically reminded Californians that it could happen here. While the memory is fresh, California citizens must decide how much earthquake protection they want and how much they are willing to pay for it. A new report on hazards on the UCLA campus underscores the urgency of the decision.

The report by a committee of faculty and administrators concluded unanimously that “UCLA is a campus at risk, and faces a potential devastating catastrophe as a result of the next great earthquake in California.” A great earthquake could kill 2,000 people at UCLA and seriously injure 4,000, the study said, identifying 25 campus buildings as very poor or poor in terms of seismic safety, based both on their construction and heavy use. It urged the university to mount vigorous efforts to win state support for improving campus seismic safety and it urged the state to respond.

Powell Library, built in 1927, has top priority for safety improvements. The University of California Board of Regents recently approved a $280,000 study to determine what specifically must be done to shore up the brick building. Funds should be included in the governor’s budget and be approved by the Legislature so that money--conservatively estimated at $15 million--can be included in the next year’s budget to carry out its recommendations. The appropriation should include money to finance plans to modernize the library at the same time the seismic work goes forward.

In retrospect, seismic improvements should have been made when Royce Hall was modernized two years ago, but the state turned down UCLA’s request for funds.

The UCLA report points to several other areas that cry out for study. The Medical Center, which is not one of the buildings considered at high risk, still should have a thorough earthquake preparedness program because its life-saving services for the entire community are too vital to lose in the event of a major earthquake. The university also should look at the potential hazards to Bunche Hall, Schoenberg Hall and the Architecture Building, all of which are built on landfill in an old canyon riverbed. And it should consider the dangers in case an earthquake triggers chemical, biological or radiation spills in university laboratories.

The report estimated that it would cost $120 million to upgrade buildings that are rated poor and very poor at UCLA. And UCLA, of course, is not the only campus with problems, although it has more unsafe buildings than any other. A survey by an engineering firm found that the Berkeley campus, UC Davis and UC San Diego all have buildings with nearly a million or more square feet of space that drew low safety ratings. The state has recently granted funds to renovate South Hall at Berkeley.

UCLA and UC Berkeley have many buildings that were constructed before the tougher building codes that followed the 1933 earthquake. They are at particular risk, as are about 50,000 to 60,000 unreinforced masonry buildings all over the state. So far California has been unwilling to do what Los Angeles and several other communities have done in requiring owners of those buildings to shore them up or tear them down. As the state Seismic Safety Commission said earlier this month, that should become a top legislative priority.

Safety in a region prone to earthquakes costs money. Californians may decide that there are other life-enhancing programs they prefer to support. But it is time to talk about the problem, not turn away from it. People paid attention for a while after the 1971 San Fernando earthquake, but there was little public action. That must not happen again.