There have been lots of quakes in the area in the past. I wonder if the rebuilt buildings were better built or not? After awhile one would think all of the old sub-standard buildings would be gone.
Look at the pictures. Apartment buildings are collapsing like a house of cards.
That’s a factor, too, as long as they know how to rebuild safer. Basically what has happened in southern California. You don’t see new brick buildings here and I’ve seen undamaged older ones taken down, maybe for insurance reasons. We have retrofitting for some older buildings. New construction has to meet earthquake standards.
All the same a 7.8 is a huge quake. That’s the current estimate for the 1906 San Francisco/ San Andreas earthquake.