Officials Say Philadelphia's Buildings Are Built To Take A Quake
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - Philadelphia officials say construction regulations covering seismic activity paid off in yesterday's quake.
Fran Burns, the commissioner of Licenses and Inspections, says there are complex regulations in the city's construction code regarding potential earthquakes.
"Given the incident (an earthquake) hasn't happened in 100 years, we've boiled down the complexity of the code to basically four major areas we look for when we do a plan review for new construction or major alterations," she told KYW Newsradio today.
Those four areas of review are (1) the type and (2) function of the building, (3) the soil it is on, and (4) the seismic activity at the specific site.
Regarding Tuesday's quake (see related story), Burns says L&I has so far learned of only seven sites at which some bricks fell but otherwise no major problems, and she says private building owners continue their inspections.
Reported by KYW City Hall bureau chief Mike Dunn
