SIMI VALLEY : Council to Consider Earthquake Study
A $72,000 contract to study whether the ground under homes in eastern Simi Valley is particularly unstable during earthquakes will be considered tonight by the City Council.
About 250 homeowners requested the study last month. They claimed that the city was endangering the lives of residents by allowing reconstruction of earthquake-damaged homes in areas where the ground shifted and cracked during the Jan. 17 Northridge quake.
The study, which is already under way by the state Division of Mines and Geology, is expected to be finished in early June, Mayor Greg Stratton said.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency will repay the city for the cost of the study.
“The study is going to tell us if there’s a problem,” Stratton said. “The big question on people’s minds right now is whether or not to rebuild. We can’t stop them if they want to start now, but we hope they can wait for the study to be done so they can be sure there’s not a problem.”
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