skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Thursday, April 3, 2025

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Trump announces sweeping new tariffs to promote US manufacturing, risking inflation and trade wars; Arizonans experience some of the highest insurance premiums; U.S. immigration policy leaves trans migrants at TX-Mexico border in limbo; Repealing clean energy tax credits could raise American energy costs.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

President Donald Trump announces worldwide tariffs. Democrats decry 'Liberation Day' as the economy adjusts to the news. And some Republicans break from Trump's trade stance.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Rural schools face budget woes even as White House aims to dismantle the Department of Education, postal carriers argue against proposed USPS changes, fiber networks to improve rural internet may be supplanted by Musk's satellites, and PLAY BALL!

New L.A. Earthquake Retrofit Plan Emphasizes Economic Impacts

play audio
Play

Monday, December 22, 2014   

LOS ANGELES – The founder of California's Great Shakeout public awareness earthquake drills says Mayor Eric Garcetti's sweeping earthquake retrofit plan for the city of Los Angeles is the most comprehensive approach to seismic safety ever undertaken in the state.

U.S. Geological Survey seismologist Lucy Jones was contracted by the city to help develop the plan earlier this year. As Garcetti's science adviser, Jones says she's helped identify factors that could aggravate relief and recovery efforts in the days and weeks following a major earthquake.

"It's a very grim picture," she says. "Some of the biggest disasters turn to catastrophe when you can't hold the economy together. People leave the region and long-term depression sets in."

The proposal takes a big picture look at what a major earthquake would be like in L.A., particularly with older masonry buildings, which Jones says would wipe out affordable housing, shut down commercial districts, and cause significant casualties unless otherwise retrofitted.

Jones also says the state's already-perilous water supply remains vulnerable. Damage to waterlines would not only harm immediate firefighting capabilities, but delay long-term recovery.

"If we badly damage our water system and the distribution and pipes getting to your house, you can survive a few days without water," she says. "But you can't reopen a business - you can't open a beauty salon, you can't open a restaurant - if there's no water."

Garcetti estimates the cost of the project is in the billions of dollars, but notes the amount is smaller than the cost of damage from a major earthquake if the retrofitting plan is not implemented.

Another one of the economic considerations is a major quake's expected effect on communications, which Jones points out plays a much greater role in daily life today than when the Northridge quake struck in 1994.

"In the 20 years that we haven't had a significant earthquake, telecommunications has gone from being an amenity to a core necessity of our economy," she says.

Garcetti's plan calls for wooden structures built before 1980 to be retrofitted within five years, particularly the thousands of apartment buildings in the region with what are described as weak first floors used as carports. Concrete buildings built before 1980 are to be retrofitted within 30 years.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
Since March 8, the Trump administration has attempted to arrest or deport at least six additional pro-Palestinian foreign students across four campuses, including Columbia, Tufts, Cornell and Georgetown universities. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

A recent arrest on the University of Cincinnati campus is sparking outrage among civil rights advocates, raising new concerns about student speech…


Environment

play sound

A huge offshore wind project is forging ahead off Humboldt Bay in Northern California - and Saturday, elected officials will tour the deepwater port …

Social Issues

play sound

Some Colorado lawmakers are scrambling to protect voter rights after President Donald Trump issued an executive order to require proof of citizenship …


Zay Harding, host of "The Visioneers," examines the future of coastal protection with Kind Designs showcasing 3D-Printing Living Seawalls in Miami. (Screenshot of visioneerstv)

Environment

play sound

A group of Florida middle schoolers is tackling water pollution in an unconventional way - by collecting scientific samples while surfing and skateboa…

Social Issues

play sound

By Chantal Flores for Yes! Media.Broadcast version by Freda Ross for Texas News Service reporting for the Yes! Media-Public News Service …

The Uplift Wisconsin warmline offers emotional support for people experiencing distress but not in immediate danger, different from a hotline designed for immediate crisis intervention and urgent support. (Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

"Uplift Wisconsin" is just one of the latest casualties from a $210 million cut in federal health funds to the state. The "warmline" operates seven …

Social Issues

play sound

A Montana legislative committee this week heard a bill to revise workers' compensation laws. Among opponents were workers who have navigated the …

Social Issues

play sound

As many Minnesotans dig out from an early Spring snowstorm, the future of a federal program that helps low-income households pay their heating bills …

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021