Grant Available to San Marino Homeowners for Earthquake Proofing

Grants of up to $3,000 are available to help some homeowners in Los Angeles and 17 other Southern California cities retrofit their homes to better withstand earthquakes.

The Earthquake Brace and Bolt program is accepting grant applications from eligible Southern California homeowners until Feb. 20.

The assistance is available to residents in 100 zip codes throughout who have homes with constructions that make them especially vulnerable to seismic shaking.

The Southern California zip codes are in Los Angeles, Pasadena, San Bernardino, San Marino, Santa Monica, South Pasadena and West Hollywood.

Homeowners can find out if they are eligible for the grants at http://earthquakebracebolt.com.

This year about $4.8 million was made available for the program, including $3 million from the state budget and about $1.8 million from the California Earthquake Authority’s Loss Mitigation Fund.

The city of Los Angeles recently adopted a law that requires owners of certain, older soft-story, wood-framed homes and brittle, concrete buildings to seismically retrofit their homes.

--City News Service, photo courtesy of FEMA.