How earthquake preparation has changed since 1906

SAN FRANCISCO ( KRON ) — Thursday marked the anniversary of the 1906 earthquake and fire that devastated San Francisco, killing 3,000 people. It's been more than a century since then and a lot of lessons have been learned when it comes to being prepared for a quake.

Before 1906, building codes were lax because of profits. For instance, wood was used more to save money. That doesn't happen today, but there's still concerns for safety.

Building codes have been updated, but when Dave Osgood from the Coalition For San Francisco Neighborhoods researched data on 180 of the city's tallest buildings he found concerns.

"There are 43 tall buildings with the same kind of foundation that the Millennium Tower had before it started leaning and had to be propped up," Osgood said.

The number one priority in cases like this is safety.

Emily Guglielmo, president of the Structural Engineers Assoc. of California, says that modern buildings codes do a good job of saving lives in the event of an earthquake. But she also said there's room for improvement when it comes to making sure buildings are usable after shaking.

"While it may have preserved life safety, it may have saved the occupants in the building, if you imagine not having a home to go back to, not have a school to send your kids to, not have a work to go and perform your employment those are really critical functions that we need to make sure that we're going beyond current codes," she said.

There were also lessons learned during the 6.9 magnitude earthquake that struck in 1989, when entire homes were moved off of their foundations. The California Earthquake Authority has found that many homeowners today don't have earthquake insurance.

Spokesperson Ben Deci explained why that often happens.

"I think it's a place where people cut when they are looking at their budgets and when we're dealing the inflation the way it is I think it's a place where people think maybe I can get away with skimping here," Deci said.

He says that's not a good idea, given the fact that another large earthquake is expected along California's fault line.

"It's going to happen, we just don't know exactly when," Deci said.

Deci also said one of the cheapest seismic improvements that can be done to a home is to have earthquake retrofitting done to prevent displacement from the structure's concrete foundation.

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