Hi 2 Cents,

I can only address this issue in regard to California as it one of the leaders in EQ retrofit standards, which are the highest in the US.

First, let me tell you an interesting story. In the late 70's or very early 80's there was a new subdivision built out around San Ramon, CA. This is near Mt. Diablo. Before the buyers of the homes even moved in, there was a 6.0 quake out that way and 11 of the new homes shifted off of their foundations. Inspections were done and everything was done according to code, but they calculated the ground velocity was unusually high for the area, thus causing something rather strange to occur. No fault was placed on the builders of the homes, but they were torn down and reconstructed.

Our second area of concern is not so much with new home construction, but with the great number of homes which were built prior to code standards in the 1950's and earlier. The majority of them have not been retrofitted and thus present and even greater hazard than the number of new homes constructed since then.

The third area of concern which happened after Northridge was in tall building construction. Though the buildings held together the steel beams which formed the structure were bent in such a way a whole new technology in construction had to be developed to repair them. This was totally unexpected.

Last, but surely not the least comes from roadway infrastructure. The majority of deaths occurring from Loma Prieta occurred on the Cypress Structure in Oakland. It was high on the list of which structures would be fixed, however, the earthquake arrived too soon. We have 100's if not 1000's of these such structures all over the state and there isn't enough time or money to get them ready before the next large quake brings them down. Its a race that most likely cannot be won.

Overall, Northridge was an example of what the most destructive kind of quake can wreak havoc in normal California communities. 1000's of homes were damaged seriously and yet they stayed up and on their foundations. I would think if there was any chance for lawsuits to be filed it would have occurred then, but did not.

However, The State of California paid the families of every person who died on a freeway in CA $50,000. Its not much when you consider what the lifetime income would have been for that individual, but something is better than nothing, I guess.

Therefore, in conclusion, I have to say I disagree with the possibility of American builders, especially those in California being brought to justice for faulty construction.

Just my sense of things....Petra