San Francisco is building skyscrapers like crazy — and there could be a deadly downside

pulse

April 30, 2018 2:52 PM

San Francisco is undergoing a construction boom, but building codes for skyscrapers aren't strong enough, according to experts.

But the city is at serious risk for
The next big quake in the Bay Area could be disastrous.

San Francisco is undergoing a skyscraper building boom, but the city's building stock — including skyscrapers — is at serious risk in a major earthquake.

There's a 76% chance that the San Francisco Bay Area could experience a devastating 7.2 magnitude earthquake within the next 30 years, according to some reports. The earthquake that caused the fire that leveled much of the city in 1906 was measured at a magnitude of 7.9.

In downtown San Francisco, where most of the new skyscrapers are clustered, a 7.2 magnitude quake cou ld leave nearly 30% of apartments or office spaces in the neighborhood completely unusable. That's almost one in three residences.

The city is located directly above a group of major, active fault lines, including the San Andreas and Hayward faults. Residents of the Bay Area are used to small tremors and shakes, but a large magnitude earthquake could be disastrous — and the recent skyscraper boom is making the situation even more dangerous.

According to a New York Times investigation, the area under San Francisco's downtown — near the notorious Millennium Tower, which has

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