House Bill 1810: Why is it essential to pass this bill!

There have been three major earthquakes in the greater Puget Sound area in 1949, 1965, and 2001. As a life-long Washingtonian, I recount stories from my father about the 1949 earthquake. I personally experienced the 1965 earthquakeAs an adult (and a licensed structural engineer). I experienced the 2001 Nisqually earthquake and responded to countless calls from friends and clients. Were they safe? Is their building safe? I remember visiting schools to evaluate their buildings and observing children waiting for approval to return to their classrooms. People rely on our buildings to be safe. What if they are not?

Earthquakes create fear in the community, along with damage and the potential loss of life from building destruction or collapse. Among the most vulnerable buildings are unreinforced masonry, commonly known as URM.  There are 20,000-30,000 URM buildings across Washington State, and over 1,000 documented URMs in Seattle alone. Washington State has the second-highest earthquake risk in the United States, with a 90% chance of a damaging earthquake occurring in our state within the next 50 years.

Why are URM’s so dangerous? Simply put, they are very heavy buildings. Do you remember your physics class where you learned that Force = Mass x Acceleration?  If acceleration is an earthquake and mass is the building, then force increases with heavier buildings. URM buildings were built from the late 1800’s through the early 1900’s, before any significant building codes. During an earthquake, the walls tend to pull away from the floor and roof, resulting in partial or total collapse of the building. URM structures are often not connected well, often the floor and roof framing are embedded into the exterior wall with little to no connections. Many of these buildings feature tall parapets and tall chimneys – both of which are unstable masonry.

Many URM buildings are in the heart of our neighborhoods. They are essential buildings (schools, businesses, and medical facilities) or apartments, condominiums, and hotels. These buildings are integral parts of our city’s architectural fabric. Could you imagine your neighborhood without these iconic brick buildings? Certainly, retrofitting them to improve performance during an earthquake would be less costly than dealing with the aftermath of building destruction, not to mention saving lives. How can we afford not to retrofit?

So, what can be done?  There are simple but effective methods to improve building performance during earthquakes. Depending on the physical characteristics of a building, improvements could include connecting exterior masonry walls to the floors and roofs, bracing of masonry parapets and chimneys, and installing plywood to floors and roofs. In some cases, it may be necessary to take additional measures. Let’s not sugarcoat this, though. It will cost money to do this work, but if we don’t embrace these measures and fix our vulnerable buildings, we are just waiting for a ticking time bomb that will eventually explode. It’s not a matter of “if”, but rather “when” we will have another significant earthquake. In fact, current research suggests that our region is due for a much larger earthquake than what we have experienced since 1949. We cannot ignore it. We must face this reality and take action now.

The approval of House Bill 1810 will fund the completion of the state’s URM building inventory and develop recommendations for tax incentives, funding options, and other financial incentives to make seismic retrofits more affordable. This bill will also increase awareness of URM vulnerability across the state. While the idea of retrofitting our most vulnerable buildings is noble, it will not be done if building owners cannot afford to do it. We have been down this road before. Our community and our city government must work together to move this ball forward, and HB 1810 is a good place to start. We have momentum.  Let’s not lose it!

Dan Say is the President of SSF Structural Engineers. Dan has dedicated his 40-year career to historic preservation, preserving the unique characteristics of our neighborhoods and communities through saving old buildings.

City of Seattle URM Buildings – What and Why

City of Seattle URM List

Support House Bill 1810: URM Identification and Retrofit Funding

More Photos