Watched a pretty scary show on the Discovery channel about this stuff yesterday.
Seems that the "earthquake proofing" that has become the standard for buildings in earthquake zones all along the Pacific Northwest are meant for crustal earthquakes, not the subduction type that will hit the west coast.
Apparently, buildings in the 10-20 storey range are the most seriously affected while others that have parking facilites beneath them are also at great risk to collapse.
When they investigated the damage in Chile after their last big one, they discovered that it was the newest buildings built to the most recent earthquake codes that suffered the worst damage. However, part of the problem was a bad concrete mix and being VERY chintzy with the rebar for caging.
The other bad news is any cities that are built up on old lake beds will suffer serious damage.
Mexico City in 1985 showed this. After the subduction earthquake with its epicentre 600 miles from Mexico City struck, many buildings in the city were destroyed. And the vast majority were buildings in the 10-20 storey range. Mexico is also built on an ancient lake bed so the waves that rolled through the area were actually magnified by the sand. That earthquake actually caused Mexico City to shift 10 feet
CKA Moderator 
CKA Super Elite 
