California Cities Approved Construction Projects Near Faults

Te cities of Los Angeles and Santa Monica have approved more than a dozen construction projects over the past decade on or around two faults without seismic studies to find out whether the buildings could be destroyed in an earthquake.

The Los Angeles Times reports city officials could have done further work to determine whether a fault was under a development. Instead, they decided fault studies weren’t required because they relied on developers’ geology reports.

Los Angeles building records show that when projects were approved officials used outdated information that placed the Santa Monica and Hollywood faults much farther away from the construction.

State law prohibits construction atop faults and requires extensive studies. But the state has not created fault zones for the areas around the two faults.