Strict building codes credited after Calif. quake
By GILLIAN FLACCUS, Associated Press Writer
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
(07-30) 15:48 PDT CHINO HILLS, CA (AP) –
If an earthquake had to hit somewhere in densely populated Southern California, this new suburb of 80,000 people was about the best place possible.
Nearly three-quarters of Chino Hills’ residential subdivisions were built in the last 15 years and feature the latest in plywood-reinforced walls, tied-down foundations, strengthened concrete and stronger welds.
The city was just a few miles from the epicenter of the 5.4-magnitude temblor, but withstood the shaking with almost no damage at all. Other communities farther away saw fallen bricks, cracked walls and windows, warped door frames and broken water mains and gas lines.
One big reason: Chino Hills went up mostly in the mid- to late 1990s and was built to the stringent earthquake standards that the state wants to see adopted everywhere across California before the Big One strikes.
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