[Publius6961]

Our older houses are standing up to quakes far better than the recent ones. Houses are being built too rigid, and the result is foundation ruptures are becoming the rule rather than the exception in California.

Tell that to the residents of the Marina District in San Francisco. The results of the LOma Prieta shake of '79.

Of course, "old' along the east coast is a LOT older than old in San Francisco, where brick has not been used for residential or commercial construction, since 1906.

[editor-surveyor]

The marina dist was a liquifaction problem, and nothing would have saved those bvuildings. They were built on wet fill.