Maybe. But we have plenty of cheap condos!

the structure and lateral bracing isn't going to be made of glass

man, i know it's all political, but fuck the city council. they really need to relent a little on the whole let's-not-replace-the-viaduct sentiment.

The article's point is that non-glass-museum-building and viaduct-safetyizing wouldn't even scratch the surface of our ill-preparedness. Which we've known for a long time, and Yanov's just the latest to point out. We haven't the spine or generosity to insist on shelling out the massive extra money (public and private) to make things reasonably safe. This latest alarm won't change anything.

I grew up here, and our existence has always been par condition. Where did you think our passivity came from, anyway?

So... they're saying that living downtown on the 23rd floor might not be the best idea? And here I thought it was the risk of fire or terrorists that was going to get me in the end...

Shame on Dan and commenters JF and Cook for using this Peter Yanev column as an excuse to rekindle yet another viaduct debate. Reading that column over the weekend, viaduct politics didn't even come to my mind.

Scary passage:

...Pacific Northwest cities are full of buildings with slender structural frames and fewer and smaller shear walls. In a mega-quake, many of the region’s iconic tall buildings would probably collapse. The loss of life and property from such a disaster would be far worse than the damage and death suffered in Chile.

I'm just wondering what Yanev proposes we do. If all these buildings are so unsafe, do we spend billions and billions to reinforce them? Do we just tear them down and start over? I just have no idea how even to begin to think about a problem like this. It's just too enormous and incomprehensible. The solution has the potential to be just as economically devastating as the problem.

I do know this. I'd like to hear more reporting on it from the likes of The Stranger and The Seattle Times.

Despite Chile’s exacting construction codes, which often exceed those of California and Japan, the performance of numerous high-rise buildings was worryingly poor.

Jesus Christ. Shut up! It was a magnitude 8.8 earthquake and killed only 342 people. Not to minimize the tragedy, but that's a staggeringly low number for such a violent earthquake.

We will never be 100 percent safe, but blowhards like Peter Yanev are determined to drum up unwarranted fear in order to justify their existence. What are we supposed to do anyway? Tear down the Columbia Tower and replace it for a once-in-500-years event? Fuck off.

Amen @ 9! Brother!
I've lived through two Seattle earthquakes- one in 1964 and the other 'big one' in the '90's. Neither one flattened the Viaduct. The whole discussion is a waste of breath.
I'm sick to death of this 'Terror Of Life Happening' that we've all become enamored with. Can't let your kids play outside with the neighbor kids- they might get kidnapped! Can't ride your bike, drive a car, fly in a plane or cross the street- you might die! Can't eat food- it might cause cancer, then you die!
Once upon a time, we leavened all such thoughts with common sense and practicality, then when something horrible happened, we turned to our belief systems to find peace with the outcome. We did not spend our days fretting over what might happen someday if we don't spend $500 Trillion to save 3 lives.

The best thing about the comment threads is when someone makes a case that actually sways you. (OK, "sway" is a poor choice of words on this topic.) And I've got to say, keshmeshi @9 and OutInBumF @10, you have swayed me. Thanks for thinking this through.

@9 RTFA dude. His point is that Chile has much higher seismic standards that we do. The buildings most like the ones we have were pretty much totalled. If we get hit with the sort of megaquake that apparently can happen here, we're gonna lose the sort of numbers you count in stadiums, not concert halls.

@8 Presumably you could retrofit existing buildings to make them more resilient. Would at least be a good area to start spending some more research dollars on...