After 250 years of European settlement and advanced scientific knowledge in the twenty -first century, California He is He is still completely not ready for earthquakes and forest fires This is an integral part of the dramatic scene.
The first European settlers of the state faced Spanish missionaries, Destroyed earthquake. Between 1769 and 1833, Spanish built 21 tasks in total, eight founded by the father. Junípero serra. In 1812, a strong earthquake – today, is estimated at 7.5 and is believed to be caused San Andreas error She shook southern California and immediately destroyed seven missions. forty Native Americans He died on the San Gabriel Arkleel mission when the ceiling collapsed. It lacks an understanding of what causes earthquakes or how to protect buildings, re -building tasks using traditional materials for clay bricks, wooden panels and tiles.
By 1848, California was an American region, despite a few Mexican population or Americans. In January of that year, Gold was discovered in the Sotter mill near SacramentoAnd within 12 months, more than 300,000 migrants from all over the world poured the region. By 1850, California was accepted as a free country in the union, and San Francisco is now an important international port The largest city of West Mississippi.
By 1906, San Francisco had 400,000 residents, and was still growing. The city adopted some primitive construction symbols, although no one is eating earthquakes. At 5:12 am on April 6, 300 miles were separated from the San Andreas error, causing an earthquake 7.9. Hundreds of buildings collapsed in downtown San Francisco; Open water and gas pipes were torn, causing a huge fire. The joint disaster killed 3000 people and left 200,000 shelter.
In the following days, civil leaders pressed newspapers to describe the disaster as a fire – not an earthquake. While many insurance policies cover fires, no earthquakes are mentioned. The leading business personalities assured the investors from New York and Europe that the earthquake was a rare “one -time” event. To calm the general anxiety, the city has made a great effort to improve the response of the fire, including building dozens of large tanks in strategic points, and linking them to a new system of tubes and girls. Although civilian leaders hesitate to recognize the risk of earthquakes, no new construction symbols have been implemented dealing with the integrity of the earthquake. In fact, current construction codes have been suspended for several months to encourage reconstruction.
It took another major disaster, the Long Beach earthquake in 1933, to motivate the state’s legislative body to the integrity of the earthquake. Temblor, which is estimated at 6.4, was hit on March 10 along the NewPort-englewood error, causing 120 deaths, 500 widespread injuries and destruction, including 70 schools. Soon it was called “Lucky Quick”, after hitting 5:56 pm on Friday, when schools already closed and many residents already left work.
While earthquakes have caused disasters since early California, death and building destruction of forest fires is a modern phenomenon.
The possibility of crushing thousands of schoolchildren in future earthquakes prompted the state legislative council to work. Soon the field law, which tightened the symbols of new school buildings and prohibited the construction of unrestricted construction buildings (for example, bricks). In 1933, Temblor also prompted the state to delegate research in earthquakes and how structures can be built to resist shaking.
Over the following decades, scientists have made great progress in understanding the dynamics of earthquakes and new building techniques to protect structures.
Two major earthquakes in 1971 and 1989 pushed additional legislation. the February 1971, Selmar earthquakeWhich was concentrated in the San Fernando Valley, destroyed two hospitals, killing 65 and wounding 2000. The Legislative Council of the state quickly bound to build high occupancy buildings in active rift areas.
On October 17, 1989, millions of Americans witnessed an earthquake under progress Luma Breta is an earthquake Boycott the beginning a Global Series Game in Sannah Park in San Francisco. Temblor, 6.9, caused the destruction of about 1,000 homes, caused 64 deaths, highways collapsed and part of the San Francisco Bay Bridge. The state has implemented more seismic safety rules, including “infrastructure flexibility”, which sparked the enhancement of bridges and highways bridge and re -modified buildings “soft story” (for example, apartments built over the first floor garages).
As of 2025, California has the most constructing earthquake in the country. While the engineers are confident that the recently created structures, including the rise of the city center, will achieve a good performance in future earthquakes, thousands of buildings that were erected before the most compromised new symbols entered and remain at risk.
Forest fires, a modern phenomenon for destruction
While earthquakes have caused disasters since early California, death and building destruction of forest fires is a modern phenomenon. As the population of California approached 40 million, the need for housing led to the temptation of fate by establishing homes in the extinguishing areas.
Terrible Los Angeles fires in early January 2025 The nation has been familiar with the famous Santa Anna winds in southern California. This strong wind begins when the high pressure system stops over the southwest, and the air is forced at the bottom through the narrow Santa mountain Ocean, and it may reach 100 miles per hour.
Before 1940, a few homes were built in the priority and the hill in the area. In 1940, the Rindge family, who had 17,000 acres from the Malibu coast, faced bankruptcy and began selling parcels.
Within a decade, more than 5,000 residents lived in Malibu. Architectural engineers have warned of the risk of building in the region, known to be a fire exposed, but the local government refused to act. On December 27, 1956, a huge fire broke out near the Zuma Beach, eventually, and eventually they were 26,000 acres and destroyed 100 homes.
This event represents a turning point. The Eisenhower administration, which is occupied in building a civil defense network in the middle of the Cold War, worked with Congress to pass new disaster relief laws. The Malibu area was announced to extinguish the fire as a “disaster area”, and the homeowners who lost the buildings became eligible to mitigate disasters.
One fire historian noticed that the government had supported “”A deadly mix of home and brush owners“Local governments, which have been pressured by real estate departments, still refuse to restrict construction in the areas exposed to the fire.
In 1961, however, Bel Air Fire, one of the wealthy Los Angeles neighborhoods. Winds Santa Ana Winds fierce, the fire destroyed 500 homes, including the homes of many celebrities, including Burt Lancaster, Dennis Hopper, Zsa zsa gaborJoan Fontaine and Joe Braun.
The fire attracted attention at the country level, with the title of Life Magazine magazine advertisement “A tragedy was reduced in the mink.” Advertising forced local leaders to face the problem. Initially, the city banned building new homes with woody shogy imbalances and called for home owners in firefighting areas to wipe a brush from their property.
In the face of the opposition from the builders and the wood industry, the state continued to allow the surfaces of the wooden shlands until 2001. Finally, in 2012, the state requested to replace all wooden surfaces with fire -resistant materials such as mineral tiles or ceramic. Los Angeles has also tightened new houses building laws and requires home owners to cleanse the brush in their rear technicians.
Will the destroyed Pacific fires and the fires of Tadina in January will lead to tougher building symbols or construction restrictions in well -known firefighting areas? The discussion is now taking place. Some architects called for new new symbols that require new houses in the Hashim fire areas “Stiffness“Built of concrete with metal surfaces and free from any trees and clips near. Quoting the lack of long -term housing in the state, other interests supporting growth calls for construction symbols that allow construction faster.
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