L.A. officials want more study on old concrete buildings

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The six-story concrete Barrington Building -- home to prominent dentists and psychiatrists to the stars -- suffered severe damage to its columns in the 1994 Northridge quake. That damage can be seen in the X-shaped cracks, precursors to a collapse. (Jonathan Alcorn / For The Times)

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San Fernando Veterans Administration Hospital patients wait for evacuation to other facilities as the ruins of collapsed buildings are searched for victims after a magnitude 6.6 earthquake hit near Sylmar on Feb. 9, 1971. Two hospitals and two major freeway interchanges were destroyed. (Bruce Cox / Los Angeles Times)

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Two concrete buildings at the San Fernando Veterans Administration Hospital crumbled in the 1971 Sylmar earthquake, killing 49 people.

(Bruce Cox / Los Angeles Times)

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An aerial view of the San Fernando Veterans Administration Hospital after the 1971 Sylmar earthquake. (Larry Sharkey / Los Angeles Times)

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The dangers of brittle concrete buildings were underscored by the collapse of the Bullock’s department store at Northridge Fashion Center in the 1994 Northridge earthquake. The store was built in 1971, before more robust building codes were enacted. (Steve Dykes / Los Angeles Times)

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The Pyne Gould Corp. building collapsed when the magnitude 6.3 earthquake struck Christchurch, New Zealand. It was built in the 1960s, before the adoption of modern seismic standards for concrete buildings. (Hannah Johnston / Getty Images)

By Catherine Saillant and Rosanna Xia

Oct. 15, 2013 3:09 PM PT

Council members Tom LaBonge and Bernard Parks submitted separate motions Tuesday calling on the city to review and conduct reports on the earthquake safety of the city’s older concrete buildings.

The motions follow a Times report on concrete buildings that were built before 1976. By the most conservative estimate, as many as 50 of the more than 1,000 old concrete buildings in the city would collapse in a major earthquake, exposing thousands to injury or death.

LaBonge’s motion asks for the city’s Department of Building and Safety to take the “first step” and report on possible ways to conduct “a comprehensive survey of non-ductile concrete buildings (built prior to 1976) in Los Angeles which have not been seismically retrofitted, including recommendations for methods of retrofitting and related costs.”

INTERACTIVE: L.A.’s hidden dangers

“All I know is this: We’re going to have another earthquake,” LaBonge told The Times this week. “We must prepare, and we must understand the situation and make sure we’re not at fault for not preparing.”

In a separate proposal, Parks asked the Board of Public Works to collaborate with the city attorney to gather data on older concrete buildings that need retrofitting and “identify via city records the accuracy of such data.”

His motion asks that the report include recommendations and ordinances to address safety and liability issues.

“The city needs to review the status of our concrete buildings and implement a comprehensive solution,” Parks said in the motion.

Concrete buildings may look strong, but many older concrete buildings are vulnerable to the sideways movement of a major earthquake because they don’t have enough steel reinforcement to hold columns in place. Los Angeles officials have known about the dangers for more than 40 years but have failed to force owners to make their properties safer.

The motions will be discussed by a City Council planning committee.

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