Good morning. It's Tuesday, Dec. 12. I'm Sandhya Kambhampati, a data reporter for The Times. Here's what you need to know to start your day.
Is your home or office retrofitted for earthquakes? 6,000 L.A. buildings aren't
If you live in Los Angeles, chances are you've seen seismic retrofitting work being done to a building. I saw enough of them myself that I got curious about these projects — and as a data reporter, I am always looking for new datasets to explore.
A retrofit strengthens vulnerable buildings to better withstand shaking from earthquakes, making them less likely to collapse or suffer damage. But my colleagues and I found that at least 6,000 structures in the Los Angeles area are not retrofitted.
Using public records requests, building permits, Google Maps, drive-by visits and lots of negotiating with officials from various cities, we compiled a dataset covering four cities. In the city of Los Angeles, we found nearly 75% of soft-story buildings — such as low-rise apartment buildings above carports — and 6% of non-ductile concrete buildings — a type of construction that is especially brittle in an earthquake — are retrofitted.
The result of our work is a searchable database to help you determine the status of buildings you may live or work in. It also offers a snapshot of retrofitting in Los Angeles everywhere the data are collected. We found that many structures are not tracked because they were either built after 1996, the city in which they are located has no recent requirement to retrofit that type of building, or the city provided incomplete data.
Our map tracks the earthquake retrofit status of buildings in Los Angeles, Pasadena, Santa Monica and West Hollywood. (Los Angeles Times)
The Westside of Los Angeles, which is more affluent and has larger populations of white residents, has more completed retrofits and individual cities with ordinances requiring them. Areas with larger populations of people of color and lower-income residents, such as South Los Angeles, are less likely to see completed retrofits.
Neighboring cities in the area, such as Inglewood and Compton, don't have retrofit ordinances on the books — so we don't know how their retrofitting efforts look. Retrofits can take several years to complete. Retrofitting downtown Los Angeles' many non-ductile concrete buildings probably won't be complete for decades.
In the South Bay, Torrance officials passed an ordinance in March. Culver City is also working on sending out notices to properties that need retrofitting. Once officials have identified the buildings, the Los Angeles Times will add these places to our map.
Getting this data together was not an easy task. The county doesn't have requirements that cities within it must adhere to, leaving them to decide whether to pass an ordinance and what types of buildings to include.
To assess properties, city officials survey building plans and Google Maps before deciding what type of rules to put in place. Many cities that have begun retrofitting programs started with soft-story buildings. I worked with each city to gather information on the retrofit status of buildings in the area. Some of the cities didn't have the data compiled until we requested it. Some charged a fee for complete addresses. For one, I created a template spreadsheet officials could fill out. I also called engineers across the city to understand the retrofit process and read through paperwork that building owners are required to complete. Although there is a process for these reports, there are limitations on what the cities actually require and enforce.
While I was reporting on this story, I was looking for a new place to live, so I used our page to find the spot that wasn't in a fault or a liquefaction zone — areas where the ground can break during an earthquake. Why I don't want to live in Beverly Grove or Venice proved to be a great conversation starter with friends. Check out our map to see exactly why.
Do you have questions about seismic retrofits as I continue to dig into the data? Reach out to me sandhya@latimes.com.
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Show us your favorite place in California! Send us photos you have taken of spots in California that are special — natural or human-made — and tell us why they're important to you.
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Today's great photo is from Kathy Smith of Goodyear, Ariz. Kathy writes:
North Lake is situated at 9,500 feet on the North Fork of Bishop Creek. You must navigate a winding, one-lane road to reach it, but it is so worthwhile. The eastern side of the Sierra Nevada range has many gems like this.
Have a great day, from the Essential California team
Sandhya Kambhampati, data reporter
Elvia Limón, multiplatform editor
Kevinisha Walker, multiplatform editor
Laura Blasey, assistant editor
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