One of LA's tallest buildings feared to COLLAPSE when Big One strikes

"A 749-foot-tall skyscraper in the heart of Los Angeles could be at risk of collapsing if a historic earthquake eventually strikes the city as many fear. The 52-story Gas Co Company is at the epicenter of controversy after Los Angeles County officials refused to release seismic reports which detail the building's ability to survive the long-feared 'Big One.' The county purchased the skyscraper last year with the intention of moving hundreds of their staff into Los Angeles' fifth tallest building."

"Gas Co Tower was built in 1991 and is a modern steel building, constructed with a design called a 'steel-moment frame,' which used horizontal beams and vertical columns to form a strong skeleton. This has set off alarms among nearby workers and residents, as the building was erected three years before the magnitude 6.7 Northridge earthquake, which severely damaged several buildings constructed using the steel-moment frame method."

"However, officials suspended a recommended $230 million retrofit for Gas Co Tower that would have updated the 34-year-old skyscraper to modern earthquake-resistant standards. According to the Los Angeles Times, officials refused to make Gas Co Tower's seismic report public because the LA county is still awarding contracts for construction at the site. However, the county counsel claimed that the original report was 'being updated with new findings.'"

A 749-foot, 52-story Gas Co Tower in downtown Los Angeles could be vulnerable to collapse in a major earthquake. Los Angeles County purchased the 34-year-old skyscraper to house hundreds of staff but paused a recommended $230 million seismic retrofit that would update the building to modern earthquake-resistant standards. The tower uses a steel-moment-frame design erected in 1991, which was later implicated in heavy damage during the 1994 Northridge earthquake. The tower was not mandated to undergo post-Northridge inspection, raising concerns about undetected damage. County officials have withheld seismic reports while contracts are awarded, and county counsel says the report is being updated; a supervisor asserts the building exceeds safety requirements.

Read at Mail Online