title: Damage to urban infrastructure and other public property from the 1989 Loma Prieta (California) earthquake.
abstract: This research project investigated the damage to public property caused by the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. The claims filed by state and local governments, special districts and non-profit organizations under the Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) disaster assistance program were analyzed to understand better the pattern of damage caused by the earthquake. These claims accounted for nearly $600 million. The damage distribution was very skewed with eleven agencies claiming more than 70 per cent of this total. Non-profit agencies accounted for a surprisingly large portion of overall damage. Heavy damage was concentrated in relatively few areas. The extent of damage in an area was a function of concentration of property, site conditions, characteristics of building stock, and distance from the epicenter.
authors.affiliation: City Planning Program, College of Architecture, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta 30332-0155, USA.
authors.forename: S P
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: French
mesh_terms: D002140:California; D003365:Costs and Cost Analysis; D004190:Disasters / Q000191:economics*; D006801:Humans; D011632:Public Assistance / Q000191:economics; D017150:Public Sector / Q000191:economics*; D012066:Relief Work / Q000191:economics*; D014506:Urban Renewal / Q000191:economics*