PASADENA, Calif.—In an earthquake, collapsing buildings have the potential to kill people. That is why the City of Pasadena works hard to put preventive measures into place to protect residents and businesses. In 2019, the Pasadena City Council passed an ordinance on soft-story buildings. Building codes are updated by the state every three years; however, with an aging building stock in a seismically active region, Pasadena understands that local ordinance updates may be necessary above and beyond state codes to...
earthquake
City of Pasadena and Caltech to Build Seismic Sensing Network
PASADENA, Calif.—The City of Pasadena and Caltech are teaming up to create a citywide fiber optic earthquake detector capable of mapping how temblors are shaking the city at millimeter-scale resolution. The work will take advantage of two currently unused—or "dark"—strands of Pasadena's fiber optic cable that stretch in a large loop around the city. Using a couple strands of fiber to measure seismic activity will gather data equivalent to over 30,000 seismometers. Only 11 traditional seismometers exist within the city...
Earthquake Threat in SoCal: Are You Ready?
PASADENA, Calif.—Margaret Vinci, manager of the Seismological Laboratory at Caltech and ShakeAlert SoCal regional coordinator, will discuss the mechanics and risk of earthquakes on Saturday, June 1, 11 a.m., at Pasadena Public Library’s Linda Vista Branch, 1281 Bryant St. She will also discuss the earthquake prediction tools available and demonstrate the new ShakeAlert earthquake early warning system. Vinci’s principal responsibility is the management of Caltech's Earthquake Research Affiliates (ERA) program. Her responsibilities include the procurement of funds for continued research...