LOS ANGELES : 72,000 Buildings Reported Affected by Earthquake

The Northridge earthquake affected 72,000 buildings in Los Angeles, 11,000 of which sustained moderate to major damage, a city official said Monday.

A more accurate damage assessment is expected in mid-April, when city officials release a preliminary report and recommend changes in building codes and seismic reinforcement requirements.

“There was a lot of damage to wood-frame structures--apartment houses and homes--because the epicenter was directly underneath a very dense residential area,” said Karl Deppe, an assistant deputy building superintendent.

Overall, the earthquake displaced hundreds of thousands of people from 34,500 residential units, including 2,000 single-family homes, Deppe told the Los Angeles City Council’s Public Safety Committee.

About 500 apartment buildings sustained moderate to severe damage, Deppe said. About 40 collapsed, including the Northridge Meadows apartment building where 16 people died. Most multi-residential buildings that were destroyed had garages and carports on the first floor. A task force of structural engineers is studying a recommendation to require retrofitting of those buildings.

“There were also a couple of hundred older homes that came off their foundations,” Deppe said. Ten hillside homes were destroyed. Besides a garage at Cal State Northridge, the temblor brought down 18 parking structures.