Housing loss upped.
Housing loss upped
A magnitude 8 earthquake on the San Andreas fault San Andreas fault, great fracture (see fault) of the earth's crust in California. It is the principal fault of an intricate network of faults extending more than 600 mi (965 km) from NW California to the Gulf of California. insouthern California--considered a distinct possibility--would leave 250,000 to 400,000 homes uninhabitable, according to according to
prep.
1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians.
2. In keeping with: according to instructions.
3. Northridge Northridge is the name of some places in the United States of America: - Northridge, Los Angeles, California, a community in California's San Fernando Valley
- California State University, Northridge
, Calif.-based Rachel M. Gulliver, an earthquake-hazard consultant. The number represents an increase over her 1980 estimate of 135,000 houses made uninhabitable by structural failure or loss of utilities, calculated while she was with the Federal Emergency Management Agency The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is the federal agency responsible for coordinating emergency planning, preparedness, risk reduction, response, and recovery. The agency works closely with state and local governments by funding emergency programs and providing technical . The initial estimate was based on the assumption that areas where the water table is low--such as the urbanized valleys in and around Los Angeles--would suffer less shaking than areas with high water tables. But other scientists' measurements of seismic events led Gulliver to up the estimated intensity of an earthquake wave in areas with a low water table.
COPYRIGHT 1987 Science Service, Inc.
No portion of this article can be reproduced without the express written permission from the copyright holder.
Copyright 1987, Gale Group. All rights reserved. Gale Group is a Thomson Corporation Company.
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