Would Downtown Seattle Buildings Survive Megaquake?
Every day tens of thousands of people go to work in buildings in downtown Seattle and they know the big one could hit while they’re inside. Megan Knox works on the 68th floor. She says, “Obviously with the earthquakes that have happened recently in Haiti and everything it makes you a little nervous about what could happen but I’m hoping that are standards are a little bit higher I guess. I hope it was created securely and I know it’s more secure than the condo I live in.” Abe Bender works on the 40th floor. He says, “Seems like a quake like that they had in Chile’ or Haiti would be a lot worse It would certainly scare me from coming back to my office building.” An Op Ed in the New York Times this weekend makes them feel even worse. Structural engineer and earthquake expert Peter Yanev wrote: “Pacific Northwest cities are full of buildings with slender structural frames and fewer and smaller shear walls. In a megaquake, many of the region’s iconic tall buildings would probably collapse.
