SDCI is Preparing for and Reducing Vulnerability to Earthquakes

We cannot predict earthquakes, but we can predict how a building performs in an earthquake. Seattle has 1,100 unreinforced masonry (URM) buildings that are vulnerable to collapse in an earthquake because they lack structural reinforcements. SDCI is supporting efforts to seismically retrofit these buildings. SDCI is coordinating with first responders to ensure that we have robust plans and processes in place if buildings collapse during an earthquake and for search and rescue.

Last week, SDCI and the Office of Emergency Management co-facilitated a FEMA-designed tabletop exercise. The focus was on response and recovery strategies in the event of a building collapse in downtown Seattle. Key agencies, including Seattle Fire Department, Human Services Department, Finance and Administrative Services, Public Health Seattle King County and Seattle Public Utilities participated. During the exercise, they discussed coordination for response and recovery operations, covering topics such as conducting search and rescue, building stabilization, patient triage, building safety evaluations, street closures, utility shutdowns, air quality monitoring survivor reunification and death notifications. The overarching goal was to improve agency preparedness, identify gaps in processes and resources, and promote "One Seattle" in response to an incident impacting our community.

To help mitigate, or reduce the probability of, building collapses in an earthquake, SDCI is leading the effort to seismically retrofit URM buildings. SDCI plans to include new guidance for voluntary URM retrofits in the 2021Seattle Existing Building Code (SEBC), which will be presented to the Land Use Committee on August 7. This code will include a definition of a "retrofitted URM building," establishing a pathway for owners to voluntarily update their status on the City's URM list. Additionally, the 2021 SEBC will codify the Alternate Method for retrofit, a minimum seismic safety standard for qualifying buildings. Upon adoption, URM building owners will have three ways to achieve a "retrofitted" status for their building: they can conduct a robust seismic retrofit using the pre-existing code-based method, they can conduct minimum seismic improvements to reduce collapse probability using the Alternate Method for retrofit, or they can provide documentation of a previous retrofit that meets the benchmarked building code dates.

While currently voluntary, the City has plans to require all URMs to meet the new definition of a "retrofitted URM" in the future and is actively pursuing the development of supportive resources in advance of adopting this mandate. In the interim, building owners should consider potential risks and liability associated with the public safety risk posed by their URM building in an earthquake. There have been lawsuits in California where building owners were held liable for URM failures despite retrofit compliance timelines from the local jurisdiction.