Quake Dangers

The Soviet earthquake should again remind Californians that we are still at huge risk and that earthquakes don’t kill people. Buildings do.

We face a quake 10 times the power of that in Armenia. Soviet building design and construction techniques have been the root cause of that tragedy and are related, poorly, of course, to our own, which are yet to be realistic.

Seismic force is related to weight. Stability is related to engineering design and capacity for energy absorption. Heavy concrete precast construction in Soviet Union is a disaster. Concrete slab/column frames were a disaster in Mexico City. Logic failed.

We can easily afford and should see that these lessons are heeded right here and now by strengthening building codes in those particular areas of heterogeneous (rather than monolithic or continuous) construction, much of which is either decorative or production-line cost effective in the interest of profit.

It would surprise the investor to know how very little more would be the cost of even halving the risk of total collapse through increased design requirements that engineers can properly define, but which also require public demand.

RUSSELL T. CONNORS

Pismo Beach

(Connors is a retired structural engineer.)