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Today Marks 27th Anniversary of Deadly Loma Prieta Earthquake In Bay Area
FEMA funding for retrofit efforts continues to spare regional damage from quakes, floods and fires.
BAY AREA, CA – Today marks the 27th anniversary of the Loma Prieta earthquake, which killed 63 people in Oakland, San Francisco and Santa Cruz, damaged 12,000 homes and 2,600 businesses, causing an estimated $6 billion in damage.
The 25th anniversary of the Oakland-Berkeley Hills Fire will follow on Wednesday, marking a quarter-century since the firestorm killed 25 people, destroyed more than 3,000 homes and caused about $1.5 billion in
damage.
In the years since, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency has leveraged $201 million to reduce future damages from Bay Area earthquakes and fires, according to FEMA
spokeswoman Mary Simms.
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These funds, which are leveraged with state funds to cover about 75 percent of a project's cost, have been used for seismic retrofits, fire risk reduction and flood elevation projects to protect homes and other local
infrastructure.
FEMA recently approved a $3 million grant for the Safer Housing for Oakland: Soft Story Apartment Retrofit Program, which will retrofit between 35 and 50 Oakland apartment buildings, Simms said.
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Another $3 million was approved for the Earthquake-Safe Homes Program, which will retrofit up to 300 one- to four-unit homes in Oakland.
FEMA also awarded $4 million in flood mitigation elevations in Sonoma County this year, Simms said.
Bay Area Rapid Transit is on track to complete the renovations planned in its Earthquake Safety Program, which was originally budgeted for $1.3 billion, including $980 million in bonds approved by voters in 2004,
Simms said.
BART is set to complete the work, including retrofitting nearly 90 miles of track, $30 million under budget. BART engineers expect the Transbay Tube and much of the system in general to be able to withstand a 500-year seismic event, Simms said, adding that key BART structures are safer than many East Bay buildings.
Thursday is International ShakeOut Day, when schools, businesses and local and state government agencies will hold earthquake drills at 10:20 a.m. local time.
- Also see: SF Embarcadero District On List Of America's Top 11 Most Endangered Places. "All-hands-on-deck approach" needed to save Bay Area's gateway from threat of rising sea levels and earthquake-vulnerable infrastructure.
--Bay City News/Photos: Image of collapsed double-decker freeway structure in Oakland, By H.G. Wilshire, U.S. Geological Survey - Photo by H. G. Wilshire for U.S. Geological Survey.High res version on line at : [1]Lower resolution version: Original image here: http://pubs.usgs.gov/dds/dds-29/web_pages/oakland.html, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/...; Santa Cruz's historic Pacific Garden Mall suffered severe damage. By C.E. Meyer, United States Geological Survey - http://pubs.usgs.gov/dds/dds-29/web_pages/scruz.html, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/...