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Podcasts Take Two
An earthquake could topple thousands of buildings in LA
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Oct 14, 2013
Listen • 5:40
An earthquake could topple thousands of buildings in LA
Thousands of concrete buildings in LA are at risk of collapse when an earthquake strikes, and there's little momentum to make them safer.
An apartment building in Reseda, CA in January of 1994 after the Northridge Earthquake.
An apartment building in Reseda, CA in January of 1994 after the Northridge Earthquake.
(
Eric Gelinas via Flickr Creative Commons
)

Thousands of concrete buildings in LA are at risk of collapse when an earthquake strikes, and there's little momentum to make them safer.

LA County has rapidly expanded over the last several decades, adding more and more buildings to the landscape.

But Southern California is due for a major earthquake. And a new analysis by the LA Times shows more than a thousand of LA's older, concrete buildings are at risk of collapse when an earthquake strikes.

According to the Times, officials have known about such dangers for more than 40 years but have failed to force owners to make their properties safer.

Reporter Ron Lin has more of the story.