Planning for earthquakes

by Philip Berke

Until recently experts who studied risks, both natural and technological, focused mainly on how to avoid them. Today, with a growing awareness that certain natural risks are simply unavoidable, the emphasis is shifting toward ways of planning for them and of mitigating their consequences. High on any list of unavoidable natural risks is earthquake. In Planning for Earthquakes Philip R. Berke and Timothy Beatley examine the experiences of 260 earthquake-prone communities across the United States, from the West Coast to the East. They give special attention to three areas of especially high risk--Palo Alto, California; Salt Lake County, Utah; and the lowlands of South Carolina (including historic Charleston). Berke and Beatley address topics that include citizen safety, ways of determining and maintaining the structural integrity of old and new buildings, mapping of quake-prone areas, and land-use (where to limit development). They also study the ways in which planners, politicians, and