1990 - 1995 in Irvine compared to now 2006 - ????

NEW -> Contingent Buyer Assistance Program
panda, i would recommend you NOT use up your quota on any of these well-covered topics:



- mello roos

- property taxes

- foreign buyers

- school comparisons

- shrimp paste
 
[quote author="PANDA DREAMING OF IRVINE" date=1212043059]Bk, can i please ask 5 questions per week?</blockquote>


Keep in mind Panda that you are only down to 1 for the rest of the week. Once Monday (or should it be Sunday?) rolls around the counter will reset.



Think long and hard before you ask the next question. You probably have one on your mind right now, but can you go another 3-4 days without being able to ask another?!
 
Good Panda. Start with 2 and if your questions are good and Graphrix does not post his "search" then we will lift your quarantine status. Panda is rare we just want to protect this endangered specie.



[quote author="PANDA DREAMING OF IRVINE" date=1212043275]OK. 2 it is.



Sad Panda.</blockquote>
 
Panda has to add the avatar I found, and I might, just maybe, if he catches me on good day, allow him to ask one more question this week.



http://img108.mytextgraphics.com/photolava/2008/05/28/poundecided-fgsknfs5.jpeg



Do it now! It is an IHB moderator order!
<fieldset class="gc-fieldset">
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Panda,



Why oh why do you not have a lovable little Panda for your atavar? It's a crime to have the word "Panda" in your name and no fluffy cuteness to go with it!!!



LOL
 
Profette,



Can you find an image where Panda and Curious George are combined into one? and the man with the hat is Graph.
 
[quote author="skek" date=1212045609][quote author="tenmagnet" date=1212044168]Since everyone?s firing in suggestions, I?ll join the party with my own.

Please stop referencing yourself in the third person.</blockquote>


I dunno, ten, I kind of like the third person Panda references. It's part of what makes Panda unique. Good to see you back, by the way.</blockquote>




I hear ya,

what can I say, there?s a lot of things that make him unique.
 
California Civil Engineers are the only ones in the country required to pass a seismic exam. That said, we know very little about earthquakes. The codes always change shortly after an earthquake because we learn something new. Civil engineers design to prevent a catastrophic failure. Meaning your home might be trashed , but you are able to walk out of it because it is still standing.



I was remotely involved in the design of a Caltrans command facility. This thing has base isolators that can ride out an earthquake. We needed to design a crush zone around it so that it could move up 3 feet in any direction.



BTW all of CA is over some fault or other. No escaping it.
 
Height and center of mass are extremely critical. The taller the building the more swaying displacement will occur. Distribution of weight is also critical. Top heavy structure has a higher center of gravity which is not good. Single story building has a low center of gravity fairly close to the ground is the most stable.



Flexible and ductile structure such as wood synchronises with the rocking movement is better than heavy building where the joint could snap if not engineered properly.



Thin columns with heavy platform are the worst. The Nimitz freeway that pancaked in the Bay Area and the collapsed apartments in Northridge with lowest level being the parking garage held up by thin pipe columns and excessive ventilation openings lacking shear panels fit the category of disaster.



[quote author="S_man" date=1212057288]California Civil Engineers are the only ones in the country required to pass a seismic exam. That said, we know very little about earthquakes. The codes always change shortly after an earthquake because we learn something new. Civil engineers design to prevent a catastrophic failure. Meaning your home might be trashed , but you are able to walk out of it because it is still standing.



I was remotely involved in the design of a Caltrans command facility. This thing has base isolators that can ride out an earthquake. We needed to design a crush zone around it so that it could move up 3 feet in any direction.



BTW all of CA is over some fault or other. No escaping it.</blockquote>
 
<blockquote>This is why the 1:1 shaker table at SDSU is so important.</blockquote>


That would be where my dad got his degree from after attending USC for a while.



Okay, I talked to my dad and I took 3 pages of notes. A few things that folks have already mentioned were brought up by him.



- If a 7.8-7.9 quake hits, you can expect shaking for 2-2.5 minutes. He recommended I watch the following YouTube video to get an idea of how long the ground shook in China:



<object width="325" height="250"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/youtube" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="325" height="250"></embed></object>



- The aftershocks of such a quake could be in the 5-6.5 range and will continue to do damage.



- He said that with that level of ground shaking, objects (obviously including people) will be "tossed in the air". He said something about an equation involving gravity and something being greater than 1 and then stuff gets airborne, but I didn't really understand what he was talking about. I just got that things will leave the ground. Childhood memory: it did freak me out when I was a kid when I went with him to a job site near the San Andreas and I asked what would happen to us if a quake hit (we were in an orchard which I believe is now a tract of McMansions. Idiots.). He said we would be launched in the air. I was incredulous, and he talked about the force of the earth moving and it being greater than gravity and how yes, it would launch us in the air. Scary.



- If an earthquake hits, get away from things that can fall on you and hold on to stable things. He mentioned that the dudes in the video were okay partially because their desks were attached to the walls of their dorm room.



- The epicenter will most likely be in the Indio/Coachella Valley area, but that is only 30-40 air miles from here. He pointed out that in China, with a quake that strong, "they were evacuating highrises 800 miles away" and "they [the highrises] were swaying 800 miles away...that's up to the Oregon border".



- I said, "but what if it's not that strong of a quake?" He said that with a 7.0-7.1 quake that there will still be shaking for 20 seconds and that can do damage.



- Soil types do matter. I said "so will houses in Laguna fall down the hill?" He said that they might, but it would be due to the amount of shaking causing the supports underneath them to fail. He said that the foundation could just give out if not properly reinforced.



- He went on for a while on building height and California building codes. He said a 1 story building is better than a 2 story, and a 2 story is better than anything higher (as far as earthquake safety is concerned). The foundations in Cali are built to withstand a certain amount of shaking based on the building height. He did tell a story about a whole house that was "tossed up in the air, and when it came down we found it was 4 inches lower than it was before. The house got compressed.". He also said that with a desert epicenter and a strong quake, "the highrises in downtown LA will be swaying".



- He pointed out that California building codes focus on "life safety". The building could be basically destroyed and will need to be rebuilt, but won't fall down on the occupants. The idea is that the building needs to stay up long enough for folks to get out.



- Houses built prior the the late 1970s = bad. Flat land = good. 1 story building = good.



- Swimming pools "will have problems"



- He tried to remember the exact number, and he thought it was that there was a 56% chance of that part of the San Andreas causing a major (7.0 or greater) earthquake in the next 30 years. He again said that it's "10 months pregnant" and I said "you have been saying that since I was a kid" and he replied "well, it is...actually it's more like 11 months pregnant now".



- He then talked about how you could be fine, and your house could be fine, but the support systems around you may not be fine. He said having a 4 wheel drive vehicle could help get around on blocked roadways. Everyone will need to be prepared to live for 3-5 days without electricity, water or gas. He especially pointed out the lack of electricity being likely, but seemed to think that the gas lines could be okay. It just depends. He pointed out that your toilet isn't going to flush if the water support systems are damaged, so keep in mind "sanitary needs". He said it could be a few months before everything is back to normal again when it comes to the utilities.



- He pointed out that schools and hospitals have a higher standard of construction to withstand earthquakes.



- It will take awhile before we know if buildings and roadways are safe because "there are only so many government officials to check on them". So even though a building or road looks fine, it may be tagged until somebody can get to it to check. He said this could cause tent cities to form in parks and parking lots (this is when I asked him about the Disneyland parking structure and he seemed to think it would be okay). He said it will "disrupt life for a couple months while they check on everything". Travel may be on surface streets only for a while as we wait for the overpasses to be checked for safety.



- The ground will "tear apart" in the desert where the plates are actually moving.



- Keep part of your earthquake kit in your car as you may be stranded away from home when it hits. He told me this as a concerned father since I travel by car for business a lot. He was also concerned for my sister who lives in the desert area, but he said "but they don't have a lot of highrises out there so that's good".
 
As a proud degree-holder from SDSU, I will chip in...



Google "triangles of life" to see why going under something that could compact (a table, desk, etc.) isn't as good as riding it out <strong>next to</strong> something that won't.
 
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