As of November of 2015, the City of Los Angeles has signed into law that structures that are in danger of being catastrophically damaged in the event of an earthquake are to be upgraded within a finite amount of time. This includes soft story retrofitting in Los Angeles city buildings. Los Angeles now has the nation’s toughest earthquake safety rules.
From the Los Angeles Times: “Under the law, property owners will have seven years to fix wood apartments and 25 years to fix concrete buildings. The city has already identified about 13,500 apartment complexes that officials suspect need repairs. A Times investigation in 2013 found more than 1,000 older concrete structures — including landmark buildings in downtown, Hollywood and Westwood — that require close scrutiny for retrofitting.”
Many more cities in the region are following suit and mandating the same soft story retrofit Los Angeles has signed into law. This is in an effort to avoid devastation and to safeguard residents from harm that has been caused by large earthquakes such as the Northridge quake in 1994.